E.H. Seymour ^
Admiral of the Hleet
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NAVAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
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MY NAVAL CAREER AND TRAVELS
ip v/^.v.
CyyyyxATiAA. .
MY NAVAL CAREER
AND TRAVELS
BY
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
THE RIGHT HON. SIR EDWARD H. SEYMOUR
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
1911
/ -s
u
Let decision and execution be the same, and though success
may not always follow, defeat is oft times left behind."
DEDICATION
TO THE MEMORY OF MY UNCLE
SIR xMICHAEL SEYMOUR, G.C.B,
VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
WHOSE EMINENT SERVICES IN CHINA FROM 1856 TO 1859
WERE HIGHLY APPRECIATED BY THE MERCANTILE COMMUNITY
THERE, AND BY HIS BROTHER OFFICERS IN THE NAVY
PREFACE
Probably no one can write his Memoirs
without being open to the charge of egotism. If
so I shall attempt no defence, being satisfied with
the reasons that led me to do it, and feeling
that as a memoirist I am at least in some good
company.
My hope is to be read by young naval officers,
who may be interested to see the changes in what
is probably the finest profession in the world — viz.
the British Navy.
I have tried to avoid all mention of my private
life; because however interesting to myself, I
cannot suppose it would be so to others.
E. H. SEYMOUR,
Queen Anne's Mansions,
St. James's Park,
London, S.W.
April 191 1.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
H.M.S. ENCOUNTER
PAGES
Entering the Navy— H.M.S. Encounter .... 1-7
CHAPTER II
H.M.S. TERRIBLE
Naval Review — Sir Edmund Lyons — Sinope — Odessa —
Ship grounding — Russian Steamer — Wreck of Tiger — Off
Sevastopol — ^The Cholera 8-18
CHAPTER HI
H.M.S. TERRIBLE (continued)
Expedition to the Crimea — Battle of the Alma — Siege
begins 17th October — Bombardment of Sevastopol . 19-28
CHAPTER IV
H.M.S. TERRIBLE (continued)
Fourteenth November Gale of Wind — Off Sevastopol —
The Commanders — Night Attack — Kertch — The Trenches
— ^The Siege — Fall of Sevastopol — Kinburn. . . 29-45
CHAPTER V
H.M.S. CRUIZER
Age Retirement — ^Voyage to China — Gunboats . 46-51
ix
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
H.M.S. CALCUTTA
PAGES
The Arrow Lorclia War at Canton— Fatshan Creek
Action— Capture of Canton— Viceroy Yeh— Move to the
North— Capture of Taku Forts— Tiensin . . . 52-68
CHAPTER VII
H.M.S. PIQUE, MERSEY, AND IMPERIEUSE
The Pique— 'Long China Sea Passage— Gale of Wind—
The Mersey— 1 pass for Rank of Lieutenant — A Smart Ship
— ^The Imperieuse — ^Passage to China by Great Circle Track 69-85
CHAPTER VIII
H.M.S. CHESAPEAKE, COWPER, AND WATERMAN
The Chesapeake— Tah-lien-wan Bay— Port Arthur—
An Execution — ^Taku Forts taken— Tiensin — Nagasaki —
The Cowper — The Yang-tse River — Nankin — The Water-
yyian — Canton River — Pagodas — The ' Cat ' — Evacuation
of Canton 86-100
CHAPTER IX
H.M.S. SPHINX AND IMPERIEUSE
Wreck of the Noma — Pelew Islands — Caroline Islands
— ^Mariana Islands — Shanghai — ^Taiping Rebels — ^Ward's
Contingent — Ship on Fire — Loss of a Gun — Naval Brigade
— Singpoo — Kahding taken — Cholera — Gordon (Pacha) 101-114
CHAPTER X
FLAG-LIEUTENANT
Old Portsmouth — Channel Islands — Pirate Story — ^Anec-
dote of Nelson — Garibaldi — Lady Smith — Royal Yacht — '
French Fleet — Gale of Wind 1 15-125
CHAPTER XI
THE MAZINTHIEN
Wolfrock — Peterhead — Young Surgeons — Sailing North
— ^Whales — Seals — ^Wahus — Bears — ^Arctic Interests — Sir
John Frankhn — ^Festivity 126-140
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XII
THE COASTGUARD
PACKS
Queenstown — Coastguard Cutters — Plymouth . 1 41-145
CHAPTER XIII
H.M.S. GROWLER
'Bugtrap* — Sierra Leone — Kroomen — ^A Wreck — Bight of
Benin — Dogs — Fernando Po — African Kings — Rivers —
Slavers — Fight with Congo Pirates — ^Ascension Island 146-163
CHAPTER XIV
COMMANDER— H.M.S. L/T^ELY— CAPTAIN
Lausanne — H.M.S. Vigilant — ^H.M.S. Lively — ^North of
Spain — Channel Fleet — Story of H.M.S. Amazon — Promo-
tion — Long Half Pay — Of&cers' Lists — Greenwich R.N.
College — ^France — Italy 164-175
CHAPTER XV
H.M.S. ORONTES
Lord Lytton — Bombay — Irish Militia — Ceylon — Singa-
pore — Mauritius — Natal — ^The Cape — South African Ports —
Bad Harbours — Wreck of Eurydice — Occupation of Cyprus
— ^A Derelict — Bermuda — ^Halifax — Barbados — Trinidad —
Jamaica — TAww^erey Explosion 176-197
CHAPTER XVI
CAPTAIN
Torpedo Course — Law Courts — ^Touraine — ^Winter in
France ..... o .. . 198-203
CHAPTER XVII
H.M.S. IRIS
Loss of Atalanta — Txidl Cruise— Palermo— Russian
Torpedo Boat — Messina — Adriatic — Ionian Islands —
Olympia—Paestum— Egypt— Trieste— Tunis— French Ships
— S3n:ia — Roustem Pasha and the Bear— 1882 War in
Egypt 204-224
xi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVIII
H.M.S. INFLEXIBLE ^^^^^
Effect of a SheU-Torpedoes-^Strike a Rock-^Lord
Alcester-Bairs Monument-Summer Cruise-Exercises—
Austrian Horses-Venice-Loretto— Navarmo-Delphi-
Salonica-Thasos-Mount Athos— Odd After-glow— Candia
—Cyprus— Nelson Island— Ephesus . . . • 225-241
CHAPTER XIX
CAPTAIN— H.M.S. Oi^EGON— CAPTAIN
Trial of the Ofe/?oM — Manoeuvres — Admiralty Com-
mittee 242-248
CHAPTER XX
FLAG-CAPTAIN— NAVAL RESERVES
The old Victory — The Queen's Jubilee — Naval
Manoeuvres— Submarine Boat— Earl St. Vincent— Ports-
mouth— Naval Reserves— Coastguard — Heligoland — The
Hearty and her Cat— Coal Pit— The Forth Bridge—
Stornoway— Shetland 249-259
CHAPTER XXI
REAR-ADMIRAL
France — Russia — Caspian Sea — Caucasus — Taganrog
— Sevastopol— Odessa 260-272
CHAPTER XXII
REAR-ADMIRAL (continued)
Channel Squadron — Pilgrims — United States — Mail
Steamer — Naval Manoeuvres — ^France . . . 273-281
CHAPTER XXIII
REAR-ADMIRAL (continued)
West India Islands — ^Training Squadron — Jamaica —
Shark Story — Panama Canal — ^North Pacific Mail Steamer
— San Francisco — California — Canada — Canary Islands —
Emigrant Story 282-294
• *
Xll
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXIV
SECOND IN COMMAND CHANNEL SQUADRON
FACES
H.M.S, Swiftsure — ^Manoeuvres— H. M.S. Anson — Ferrol
— Salving H.M.S. Howe — Spaniards — Serpent's Cemetery —
Ferrol Ball — ^H.M.S. Empress of India — ^Winter Cruise 295-309
CHAPTER XXV
SECOND IN COMMAND CHANNEL SQUADRON (continued)
A Duel at Gibraltar — ^Madeira — Canary Islands — ^Vigo
Treasure Ships — Ceuta 310-314
CHAPTER XXVI
ADMIRAL-SUPERINTENDENT OF NAVAL RESERVES
; The Naval Reserves and Coastguard — Naval Manoeuvres
— Coastguard's Duties — ^Eagle Island . , . 315-319
CHAPTER XXVII
CHINA COMMAND
Chusan Island — Occupation of W^ei-hai-wei — Nagasaki
— ^Hankow — Nankin — ^Hong-Kong — Manilla — Formosa —
Corea 320-328
CHAPTER^: XXVIII
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
H.M.S. Bonaventure grounding — Vladivostok —
Russian Tar tar y — Convict Prison — Japan — ^The Yang-tse
Rapids 329-335
CHAPTER XXIX
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
H.R.H. Prince Henry of Prussia — Siam — ^Borneo . 336-340
CHAPTER XXX
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
The Boxer Rising — Our Preparations — Our Expedition
starts — Tiensin — Lang-fang — ^Desert Trains — ^Taku Forts
— ^Peitsang — ^Hsiku Arsenal 341-354
• « •
Xlll
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXI
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
PAGES
Defence of the Tiensin Settlements— Capture of the
Chinese Arsenals — General Fukusima . . • 355-3^2
CHAPTER XXXn
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
Shanghai— The Yang-tse— Pekin reheved — Shan-hai-
quan — Chen-wang-tao — ^The Pier .... 363-368
CHAPTER XXXni
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
The Yang-tse — Death of H.M. Queen Victoria — ^Hong-
Kong — Tiensin — Pekin — The Forbidden City — New-
chwang — ^Nankin — ^Wei-hai-wei — ^Relieved in Command —
Arrive home 369-376
CHAPTER XXXIV
ADMIRAL
The King's Telegram — ^Decorations — ^Portsmouth Ban-
quet — Royal Visit to Devonport — With H.R.H. Duke of
Connaught to Madrid — Order of Merit — ^The Coronation 377-382
CHAPTER XXXV
PLYMOUTH COMMAND
House Book — Cambridge Degree of LL.D. — ^Visit of
T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales to Devonport —
German Squadron's Visit — ^Three Admirals — ^Promoted to
Admiral of the Fleet 383-386
CHAPTER XXXVI
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
Remarks on Title and Flag of Admiral of the Fleet —
With H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught to Berlin —
Trafalgar FSte at Boston — Southern States — Go with
Prince Arthur of Connaught to Japan , , . 387-394
3«V
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXVII
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET (continued)
PjkCSS
Leave Japan — Cross the Pacific — Vancouver's Island —
Canada — Indians — Niagara — Quebec . . . 395-400
CHAPTER XXXVIII
H.M.S. INFLEXIBLE AND NEW YORK
Hoist Flag in Inflexible — ^Hudson-Fulton Celebrations
at New York — Processions — Banquets — West Point
Academy — ^Return — ^Retirement .... 401-407
CHAPTER XXXIX
ENVOI
China and Japan — Importance of our Navy — Steam-
ships — ^Armour-clads — ^Turret Ships — ^Navy in 1844 — ^Naval
Changes — Knowledge required — Engineers — ^Modern Per-
sonnel — ^Marines — ^Navy's Duties — Coastguard — Size of
Ships — Conclusion 408-422
INDEX 423-429
XV
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET THE RT. HON. SIR EDWARD
H. SEYMOUR, G.C.B., O.M., etc. . . . Frontispiece
From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry.
TO FACB PAGB
BOMBARDMENT OF ODESSA, BEING THE FIRST
ACTION IN THE CRIMEAN WAR, 1854 . . . .12
THE AUTHOR 38
From a daguerreotype taken at Constantinople in 1855.
THE FIRST CAPTURE OF THE TAKU FORTS, 1858 . 64
H.M.S. PIQUE, FORTY-GUN SAILING FRIGATE, 1858 . 76
H.M.S. OREGON, THE FIRST ATLANTIC LINER COM-
MISSIONED AS A MAN-OF-WAR, 1885 . . . .242
H.M.S. HOWE SALVED AFTER 148 DAYS ON THE ROCKS
AT FERROL, 1892-1893 302
H.M.S. CENTURION, MY FLAGSHIP IN CHINA, 1898-1901 354
H,M.S. INFLEXIBLE, THE FIRST STEAM MAN-OF-WAR
TO CARRY THE FLAG OF AN ADMIRAL OF THE
FLEET, 1909 402
xvi
MY NAVAL CAREER
AND TRAVELS
CHAPTER I
H.M.S. ENCOUNTER
Entering the Navy — ^H.M.S. Encounter.
^ Probably no one profession in England has given
so many of its sons to serve the State as what
is commonly called ' The Church/
My father was a clergyman, Rector of Kin-
warton, Warwickshire, and Canon of Worcester
Cathedral.
I was born at Kinwarton in April 1840, and as
soon as I had sense enough to form a real wish it
was to go to sea — a choice I have never regretted.
On nth November 1852 I entered H.M. Navy.
The procedure then was very different from
what it is now. The age for entry was 12 to 14,
the examination was held in the old Naval College
at Portsmouth, and lasted only one day; it con-
sisted of arithmetic, including the 'rule of three/
no fractions, and dictation of twenty lines from
the Spectator : three spelling mistakes turned
MY NAVAL CAREER
the candidate back for good, no second trial
being allowed.
In September 1852 (the month and year the
great Duke of Wellington died), I, being at school
at Radley, got the offer of a nomination as naval
cadet in H.M.S. Encounter just commissioned. I
accepted, and was sent to a ' crammer ' in
Britain Street, Portsea.
Our preceptor there was Mr. Eastman, a
retired naval instructor, his house only held about
ten lodgers, and the rest, I for one, were billeted
about St. George's Square.
We had no facilities for games, and had to pass
our leisure time as we could. My chief recollec-
tion is an arranged fight between myself and
another boy named Herbert in the small back
yard. We were separated by our master's wife
armed with a broom, and my opponent, a most
promising young officer, was killed at the attack
on the Peiho forts in 1859.
On loth November I went through my exam-
ination at the old Naval College, and next day
received my passing certificate and an order to
join my ship at Spithead, which I did on 12th
November.
The Encounter was a screw corvette, full ship
rigged, carrying fourteen 32-pounder guns, and able
to steam 9 to 10 knots at best, a fairly high speed
in those days. Her complement was 180 officers
and men, and I was the only naval cadet on board.
Naval officers will appreciate how different
the signal service of the Navy was then, when I
say that on arriving on board the first thing the
2
EARLY EXPERIENCES
First Lieutenant said to me was, 'You will take
charge of the signals of this ship/ of which I, of
course, knew nothing.
The signal staff consisted of myself aged I2|-,
and a first class boy aged about i6, no signal man
being allowed to the ship, nor were spy glasses
of any sort allowed by the service, but had to be
purchased at the officers' private expense.
The Encounter was on ' particular service '
in home waters ; the first time I went to sea was
on a trip to Queenstown and back directly after
I joined. We fell into a south-west gale and had to
put in both to Torbay and to Falmouth for shelter ;
the ship rolled quickly and heavily, but curiously
enough, though I was often sea-sick afterwards,
the excitement of my first voyage prevented my
being so then.
We went to bring back the navigating crew
of the Ajax, and on our return the midshipmen's
berth was well filled, and I had my first experience
of a cheerful musical evening, enlivened by grog
and by some songs by a jovial old second master,
which do not all bear repeating.
Perhaps I should here say that a ' second
master ' was of the same rank as a then * mate '
(now sub-lieutenant) and was the same inter-
mediate step between master assistant and master
that a mate then was between midshipman and
lieutenant.
Our First Lieutenant was Roderick Dew, a man
full of energy and life, with a sense of humour
often displayed, and with a command of strong
language rarely equalled.
■5 B 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
No greater change has come in the service than
the cessation of swearing at the men. In the
'fifties no exercise aloft ever went on without
it in most ships ; and many officers would have
thought a youngster wanting in zeal who never
accentuated his orders and appeals to the men.
Indeed in those days many officers might well
have kept in mind the third verse of the 141st
Psalm.
In those days the chief things required in a
man-of-war were smart men aloft, cleanliness
of the ship, her hammocks, and her boats. Her
gunnery was quite a secondary thing. I have
heard very good officers of that date say that
if a ship's boats and hammocks were in first-
rate order you might depend that all was well
with her.
Target practice in those days was carried
out as follows. The ship was anchored, and the
target, often a cask with a flag on it, was laid
out and moored at exactly so many yards from
the ship, measured by sextant angle of her mast-
head from the boat with the target, probably
at about 600 yards.
The range being then well known, firing was
steadily conducted. Anything less Hke an action
between two ships can hardly be imagined. We
certainly manage these matters better now.
Our next service was to lie guardship to H.M.
the Queen at Cowes at Christmas time, a period
then spent by the Court at Osborne. After
that we were ordered to Bristol to enter seamen
for the Navy.
4
EARLY EXPERIENCES
My readers must remember this was before
the continuous service days of the Navy, and that
when ships commissioned they had to enter men
how they could, and a seaman, whatever his rating,
belonged to the service for that ship's commission,
whether it was for one year or five years or more,
and then was as free as if he had never served
at all.
To Bristol we went, and passed up the river
under where the Clifton suspension bridge now
is ; a hawser only was then stretched across, with
a basket in which some adventurous people were
hauled over. We passed through the Cumberland
basin and into the river beyond, and lay there
two or three weeks, probably the only man-of-war
that ever lay in the Avon.
We were often with the Channel Fleet, then
all sailing vessels, and exercise aloft was frequent.
The Encounter was, I think, the smartest ship
aloft with her spars and sails that I ever served
in. After drill aloft with the Channel Squadron,
I have seen her sometimes so much in advance,
and finished so long before the other ships, that
the Captain proposed to turn the hands up to
see the other ships finish.
During the winter of 1852-3 we were more
than once at anchor at Spithead with the Channel
Squadron, in a gale of wind with lower yards
and topmasts struck, and no communication with
the shore for a whole day. In those days no
steamboats existed.
In April the ship went into dockyard hands
at Portsmouth to ship new boilers, and we were
5
MY NAVAL CAREER
all put to live in the Dryad hulk. She was an
old frigate moored close to the logs in front of
the Hard. In her we spent a few weeks with
discipline much relaxed, and very varied visitors
from the shore. ^
I think young officers of the present day
cannot imagine what life in a midshipmen's
berth was then sometimes like. If they want to
form a just idea, let them read some of Smollett,
or a description in ' Rattlin the Reefer ' of his
joining his ship.
In the 'fifties many convicts worked in Ports-
mouth dockyard, and lived at night in two
hulks moored just inside Blockhouse point.
They were herded in cells holding several men,
and could look through the gun ports, which were
strongly barred. I have known naval officers
pull round these hulks and chaff the gaol birds,
who were not backward in repartee, more forcible
than refined.
There was a story told of an empty mud barge
returning into Portsmouth Harbour, and as she
passed close by a man-of-war, some one on board
the latter very improperly called out to the two
bargees, 'There's a rat in your fore-chains,'
which was well-known barge chaff. The only
reply made was by one bargee saying to the
other loud enough to be heard in the ship, ' Bill,
^ If anyone wishes to get an idea of life in a midship-
men's mess at that time, let them read the first chapter
of Hurrah for the Life of a Sailor— vthich. I recommend.—
written by my old messmate and friend, Admiral Sir William
Kennedy.
6
EARLY EXPERIENCES
it's werry 'ard we seldom comes into Ports-
mouth Harbour without meeting with a
fool ! '
I was only eight months in the Encounter,
and as she had no naval instructor I was then
moved to a ship that carried one.
CHAPTER II
H.M.S. TERRIBLE
Naval Review — Sir Edmund Lyons — Sinope — Odessa — Ship
grounding — Russian Steamer— Wreck of Tiger — O^
Sevastopol — ^The Cholera.
In July 1853 I joined H.M.S. Terrible, then fitting
out at Woolwich, which in those days was one
of our dockyards. Arriving by train one evening,
a boat with a few boys were sent to bring me off ;
the tide was low and covered the bottom of a long
flight of stone steps, to what depth I knew not ;
my chest with all my possessions in it took charge
of the boys and all plunged into the water at the
bottom, but luckily found it only a foot or so deep ;
this was chance and good luck.
The Terrible was a paddle-wheel steam frigate
of 21 guns. Built about 1846, she was always
the finest paddle-wheel man-of-war in our
Navy. Her tonnage was 1847, her horse-power
800 nominal, her extreme full speed nearly 13
knots, then wonderful for a man-of-war. Her
guns seven 68-pounders 95 cwt., the heaviest in
the service or anywhere, four lo-inch hollow shot
84-cwt. guns, and ten 8-inch hollow shot ones.
Complement of men 300. When built, indeed, she
8
NAVAL REVIEW AT SPITHEAD
was the most powerfully armed steamship afloat.
This was her third commission.
Her Captain was J. J. McCleverty, and a more
cool and courageous man never I believe wore the
British uniform, as one or two occasions in that
ship showed.
We took part in the Naval Review at Spithead,
on nth August 1853, in the presence of H.M. Queen
Victoria, the chief naval interest being centred
in H.M.S. Duke of Wellington, 121 guns, a new ship
and the first screw three-decker in the world. She
was launched at Pembroke in 1852 as the Windsor
Castle, but on the death of the Duke of Welling-
ton in September of that year, the Queen ordered
the ship to be named after that splendid soldier.
It may interest naval officers to hear that
the first appearance of semaphore on board ship
was at the above review, when one was fitted on
the taffrails of the steamers to assist in keeping
station. We had one ; but directly the review was
over they were all landed, and were not adopted
as a service fitting till about 1870.
At the end of August we were one of the ships
accompanying Her Majesty in the Victoria and
Albert from Holyhead to Kingstown to open the
Dublin Exhibition. The Terrible was the fastest
ship of war that could be found, but the highest
speed we were able to go on the run across was
12-8 knots. The Royal Yacht went one or two
knots faster. The other three escorting men-
of-war were left hull down before we got to
Kingstown.
In October 1853 we were ordered to the
9
MY NAVAL CAREER
Mediterranean station, and to proceed to Spithead
to embark Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons,
Bart., and his staff for passage, and to be second
in command on that station.
This was in view of the war clouds gathering
in the East, and foreshadowing the Crimean War.
Sir Edmund Lyons was at that time just 63 years
old; he had been made commander at 21, and a
captain at 23 in 1814, but was 35^ years on the
captains' list, and therefore not made a rear-
admiral till he was over 59 years old.
When this is considered one sees how bad was
the system of providing officers for the highest
ranks of the service. In the early 'fifties there
could be no rear-admirals under nearly sixty;
the result was that it was often necessary to make
first-class commodores instead ; which rank is
a standing insult to the rear-admirals' list. Sir
David Milne was in his eighty-first year while
still Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, and
many other such cases could be cited.
Mr. Childers rendered a great service to the
country by his age retirement scheme. No man
after fifty becomes more fit in any way in my
opinion to perform the duties of an admiral in
command at sea, especially if under the strain of
war. Some men no doubt last longer than others,
but if I hear a man over sixty say he is as fit for
the above as he was at forty, I say he is evidently
too old already.
Sir Edmund Lyons had just had the experience
(for the naval officer on the active list an extra-
ordinary one) of a diplomatic career, having been
10
MEDITERRANEAN
our Minister at Athens since 1835, a service he
had admirably performed.
But in these days we cannot imagine a naval
officer, after nearly twenty years on shore, hoisting
his flag at sea !
However, changes in ships went slowly in those
days, and Admiral Benbow might have taken
command of a sailing line-of-battle ship in 1853
and only remarked that she was larger, and the
guns heavier, than he had been used to.
We called at Gibraltar, my first foreign port,
and at Malta; and passing Constantinople, joined
the allied French and English Fleets at anchor
in Beikos Bay on 24th November. On the
arrival of H.M.S. Agamemnon, Sir Edmund Lyons
shifted his flag to her on 28th December.
By this time few could doubt that war must
follow. On 30th November occurred the Sinope ^
affair when a Russian squadron under Admiral
Nachimoff entered the harbour of Sinope, and
destroyed a Turkish squadron of very inferior
force at anchor there.
This action on the part of Russia has been
severely criticised, but the two countries were
virtually at war, and so I consider it was legitimate ;
the only questions being: Should the Turkish
squadron have been given a fair chance of surren-
dering? and. Did the Russians continue their
fire longer than was necessary when resistance
had ceased ?
^ Readers of Thackeray's Rose and the Ring may not be
aware that Sinope is the ancient Paflagonia where King Valoroso
XXIV reigned.
II
MY NAVAL CAREER
On 4th January 1854 we accompanied the
combined EngUsh and French Fleets into the
Black Sea for a short cruise, and then returned
to the Bosphorus ; this was a very definite demon-
stration to Russia of our intention to support
Turkey.
On the 6th we visited Sinope, and I was much
interested at seeing for the first time the result
of a fight, in the wrecks of the Turkish squadron,
and their demolished batteries.
On 24th March the combined Fleet left the
Bosphorus for good, and proceeded to Kavarna
Bay, which now became their principal rendezvous
till the expedition left for the invasion of the
Crimea.
On 9th April a general signal from the Bri-
tannia told us that war was declared against
Russia, and it was of course received with cheers.
On the 1 7 th the Fleet left for Odessa and anchored
off it on the 20th, it being decided to bombard that
place. I am aware that this proceeding has been
adversely criticised by some ; but I think it
was quite justified by two things : first, that a
flag of truce sent in by the Furious just before
we heard of war, to bring away our Consul, had
been fired on ; and, second, that many English
and French merchant ships trading to Odessa
when war was declared were not allowed to leave.
Several of them under cover of our attack suc-
ceeded in escaping.
On 22nd April 1854 the first shot in the war
may be said to have been fired. The bombard-
ment was conducted by five English paddle-
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OUTBREAK OF THE CRIMEAN WAR
wheel steamers, viz. the Sampson, Retribution,
Tiger, Furious, and Terrible, and three French
ones, viz, the Mogador, Vauban, and Descartes.
We were divided into two divisions, the idea
being that all would not be engaged at once.
The action began about 6.30 a.m. and lasted
with intervals till after 4 p.m., partly under way
and partly at anchor.
At about 1.30 P.M. the magazine on the Mole
blew up, a fine sight to us.
Besides the steamers some rocket boats were
sent in from the Fleet to set fire to the shipping ; i
and a pretty episode resembling olden days took ^|
place in the Arethusa, a 50-gun sailing frigate, then f
commanded by Captain W. R. Mends, 1 standing ^
in under sail and engaging the outer batteries ;
this being, I believe, the last time that an English
man-of-war was ever in action under sail.
One's first experience of warfare is not the
less impressive on the mind, if it occurs when one
is not quite fourteen years old.
On 25th April we left for Constantinople,
chiefly to take despatches, and on 4th May we
rejoined the Fleet cruising off Sevastopol. This
was our first sight of that great sea fortress,
of which really very little was known to the world
at large, and I firmly believe that if in the year
1853 you had asked at an ordinary London
dinner party, ' What and where is Sevastopol ? ' very
few people could have given you a proper answer.
We were very ill informed as to the number
1 Afterwards Admiral Sir William Mends, G.C.B., and the
splendid organiser of the trooping and transport service generally.
13
MY NAVAL CAREER
of Russian troops in the Crimea. In those days
of innocence, ignorance, or indifference — which
was it ? — intelhgence departments existed not
with us, and the world generally was not as occu-
pied with military matters as it is now.
The allied fleets cruised off Sevastopol for
several days under sail, often in thick fog, and
I remember one day a French line-of-battle ship
looming out of the fog close to our starboard beam,
both ships barely moving and ours just clearing
her by putting men in our paddle-wheels to turn
them, the wheels being of course disconnected
from the engines. The Russian ships remained
inside their harbour.
At this time we heard the sad news of the
loss of H.M.S. Tiger on 12th May. In a thick fog
she ran on shore under a high cliflf four miles from
Odessa. The Russians soon saw her and opened
fire with field-pieces and small-arms, which she
could hardly return.
It was soon evident she could not be saved, so
her Captain (H. W. Giffard) ordered the ship to be
set on fire and the crew to land. They were, of
course, made prisoners. Among other casualties
the Captain was mortaUy wounded and his nephew,
a midshipman of the same name, was killed.
During the summer of 1854 we were chiefly
employed in reconnoitring Sevastopol, in company
with one or two other ships, English or French.
We generally arranged so as to appear off the
harbour at daylight, so as to close it as near as
their guns' range allowed, before a superior force
of ships could be sent to drive us off.
14
RECONNOITRING OFF SEVASTOPOL
On one occasion, on 23rd August, we were
nearly lost like the Tiger. We, with the Fury
in company, arrived off Sevastopol early one
morning, and finding some of their line-of-battle
ships outside, we were running to the northward
along the coast. After going a few miles we saw
a boat pulling in for the land, and, wishing to
cut her off, we edged a little more in shore.
It was my morning watch and I was on the
forecastle getting a gun pointed on the boat,
when suddenly I felt the deck rise under me, and
heard a noise like the beaching of a boat on shingle.
We had struck on a shoal running out from
the land. The ship rolled but held her way.
One's immediate thought was, Shall we be a
second Tiger 1 And the alternatives between
being killed in defending the ship, or put in
a Russian prison, loomed before us ; but happily
our ship being at full speed saved us, and we
got clear over the reef though with much damage
to the keel and planking near it. Such moments
are anxious ones, especially to those in command.
On 15th June off Sevastopol in company with
the Furious we found the Russian squadron at
sea with six men-of-war steamers. These last
stood toward us and we let them come within range.
The wind was blowing towards Sevastopol, so their
sailing ships could only stand out close hauled.
The steamers hoisted Russian ensigns at their
mast-heads, and all looked promising for a sea
fight. Much enthusiasm existed on board us, officers
got their pistols ready and non-executive officers
volunteered to fight the boats' brass guns.
15
MY NAVAL CAREER
However, after mutually exchanging shots
for about two hours, the Russians seemed to
think they were getting too far from their fleet,
and turned back to rejoin their line-of-battle
ships, we following as far as was reasonable,
on account of the latter.
This was the only case in the Black Sea during
the war of vessels under way engaging each
other.
Our frequent reconnoitring duty was to count
the ships in Sevastopol ; their entire fleet seemed
to be three three-deckers, ten two-deckers, five
frigates, and six steamers. The land defences of
the south side looked very slight indeed, as was
found, at first, to be the case.
On 8th July in the evening we arrived off
the Sulina mouth of the Danube a few hours too
late to take part in an attack by the boats of the
Firebrand and Vesuvius on some Russian works
just inside the river. This operation was com-
manded by Captain Hyde Parker of the Firebrand,
who, while leading his men with great gallantry,
was shot through the heart.
On 13th July we and the Furious went to
Cape Fontane, where the Tiger was lost, and
opened fire on her wreck in order to destroy the
machinery, lest the Russians should make use of it.
They brought field-pieces to the edge of the
cHffs and returned our fire, but we succeeded
in silencing them, and then did what we wanted.
As soon as the field-pieces retired, and the Russians
saw that our fire was only continued on the
wreck, the cliffs were covered with people, many
16
SEVASTOPOL
women among them, to watch the proceedings,
as if all was friendliness.
It was a very pretty sight to arrive off Sevas-
topol early on a lovely summer morning, and see
the fine white town girt as to its sea shores with
massive grey granite forts ; and beyond the town
on the south side the ground sloping upwards,
and often covered with many white tents, where the
allied armies' lines and batteries were soon to be
made.
The harbour displaying a fine fleet all ready
for sea, and all as it were smiling in the sunny
morning, and as little foretelling the really awful
destruction of life and property, and the frightful
human suffering, which a few months was to
witness there.
Tolstoy's ' Sevastopol ' is a work half history,
half novel, but to my mind it puts very vividly
before its reader what life in the town was like
during the siege.
Our cruises off Sevastopol were varied by
lying at anchor off Baljick in Kavarna Bay, some
fifteen miles to the eastward of Varna, where
the allied armies were assembling.
In July the cholera broke out among the
troops, commencing with the French, who even-
tually lost most men by it, and soon after, in
August, it attacked the ships also.
The Britannia, the flagship of our Commander-
in-Chief, Vice- Admiral Sir James Dundas, lost 50
in one night, and 10 the next day ; and three of
the French three-deckers lost respectively 152,
120, and 80 men.
17 c
MY NAVAL CAREER
The transports were beginning to assemble to
take the army to the Crimea ; and when our line-
of-battle ships went out for a cruise in hopes of
improving the men's health, our ship and another
were left to guard the transports.
In a few days our ships returned with the
cholera no less on board, and I and others were
employed in going alongside the large ships and
taking the men ill, some dying with cholera, in
our boats to the transports. This, however, did
not give the cholera to any of our men, which,
added to my further experience in other parts of
the world, has made me regard that disease as
non-infectious. No doubt others in the same
locality and conditions of air or water may be
liable for the same reasons to take it, but vicinity
to patients does not, by my experience, seem to
give it.
In aU the ships that had the epidemic the
proportion of officers affected was very small
indeed.
I8
CHAPTER III
H.M.S. TERRIBLE (continued)
Expedition to the Crimea — Battle of the Alma — Siege begins
17th October — Bombardment of Sevastopol.
All this time the preparations for the Crimean
expedition were maturing at Varna : the transport
part and the embarking and landing programme
were progressing under the immediate supervision
of Sir Edmund Lyons, his Flag Captain, Captain
W. R. Mends, late of the Arethusa, being, I believe,
really the chief hand in the naval part of the
scheme and arrangements, his military colleague
being, principally, Sir George Brown.
It is not my part or object to dwell on the
general proceedings of this great expedition,
which have been so well described by several
historians. Everyone admits the almost perfect
part played by our Navy in the embarkation,
transporting, and landing of our troops.
Finally we left the anchorage off Baljick on
7th September with the Fleet and transports
in company.
19 C2
MY NAVAL CAREER
The next day we joined up with our allies,
the French and Turkish Fleets at sea, about
thirty miles south of Serpent Island, and, after
about a week's passage the landing of the armies
at Old Fort was completed by about the i8th
September.
The disembarkation was on a low beach,
without shelter from the sea, but the weather
was on the whole favourable, and the enemy as
is known attempted no opposition.
There was then no steamboats, which would
now accelerate matters. Our paddle-box boats
were much the largest in the service, they drew
very Uttle water and were most useful for landing
men and horses ; a platform was in many cases
built on two boats placed side by side, and on
this a large number of soldiers stood and were
thus conveyed to the shore.
During this time we were often off Sevastopol
watching the Russian ships. Some people have,
I believe, blamed them for not coming out and
attacking the transports ; but, when the com-
parative force of the allied squadrons and of the
Russians is considered, I think any such charge
is absurd.
It seems now very curious that opinions
were much divided as to where the landing in the
Crimea should be — from Eupatoria even to Kaffa
places were suggested ; but such variety of
opinions may be expected in the case of aUied
forces of different nations.
On 19th September the armies moved towards
Sevastopol, the Fleet accompanying them, if the
20
BATTLE OF THE ALMA
term may be allowed ; that is, keeping abreast
along the coast. On the 20th the Battle of the Alma
was fought, so called after the small river of that
name.
We on board the ships had a very fair side
view of the battle, which, considering its import-
ance, occupied a very short time. The Crimean
campaign is now ' ancient history ' and therefore
public opinion is probably but lukewarm about
it. It is not for me to criticise, but I have no
hesitation in saying that after the Battle of the
Alma, the allies could have gone straight into
the north side, and thus captured Sevastopol with
very little, if any, further loss.
I know this not only from reading, but from
talking in after years with French and with
Russian officers who were present there.
The result of our not doing so, but sitting
down before the place for a siege, was no doubt
to bleed Russia through an extremity. But
that was not what the expedition was sent for.
It was to take Sevastopol, and capture or
destroy the Russian Fleet, and when commanders,
naval or military, are by their Governments,
or superiors, ordered to do a thing, I presume
their duty is to do it — if they can — and as
quickly and with as little loss to their own forces
as may be.
Any student of the Crimean campaign can see
various errors that were committed ; but at least
two brilliant facts stand out: one, that, on the
whole, good relations were maintained between
the allied commanders and forces; and, second,
21
MY NAVAL CAREER
the great courage generally displayed by the
troops of both the allies and of the Russians.
After the Battle of the Alma the French
Commander-in-Chief, Marshal St. Arnaud, became
so ill that he had to leave for home and was
succeeded by General Canrobert, and the flank
march, so called, to move round the town towards
Balaklava and invest the south side of Sevastopol
was carried out.
It would seem that the allied commanders did
not know they could have at once taken the
north side, and if so the southern position for
a long siege had this immense indisputable ad-
vantage, that it gave the allies Balaklava harbour
and the Kazatch and Kameish creeks as sheltered
places for shipping and landing operations ; none
such existing to the north side.
For the Russians the advantage of the above
was, that during all the siege, reinforcements and
supplies could be, and were, constantly arriving
by land. The south side of Sevastopol had but
scanty land defences ; evidently a sea attack was
what had always been expected and prepared
for, and I believe that if the city had been at
once stormed on the south side, it would have
been taken. I form my opinions partly from
what Russian officers, who were there, have told
me.
I will not attempt any account of the opera-
tions, which can be very well obtained from various
well-known works; but only say that, it being
decided that the English should take the right
attack and the French the left, we were given
22
PREPARATIONS FOR THE BLOCKADE
Balaklava as our principal port, and the French
took Kameish creek, which is to the westward
of the city ; we also having a smaller one, the
Kazatch creek, which is again west of Kameish.
The allies now set to work to prepare their
siege batteries, which were armed very greatly
with ships' guns, manned by a Naval Brigade from
the Fleet, as well as by the military siege train
worked by artillerymen.
The Russians under that great soldier General
Todleben at the same time threw up bastions, which
were also principally armed with guns from their
ships.
Comparatively little fire was exchanged until
the 17th October, which date the Russians still
celebrate as the real opening of the siege.
The question of what active part the ships
should take in the attack on the forts was, I
believe, found difficult to settle; I will only say
that the Admirals decided to bombard the sea
defences on the day that the shore batteries
opened fire. During that time the allied fleets
were mostly at anchor off the Katcha River to
the north-east of Sevastopol.
At times the Terrible and other steamers passed
by the north shore of Sevastopol to reconnoitre,
and exchanged long shots with the earthworks on
the cliff. There was one especially noted called the
* Wasp.' We had four 68-pounders 95 cwt. mounted
on broadside carriages, on the main deck.
These we got up on deck, and cut the carriages
so as to give them greater elevation, when we got
them to carry about 4000 yards in distance — then
23
MY NAVAL CAREER
thought extraordinary. The 'Wasp's' guns
ranged about the same distance.
About daybreak on the 17th the allied batteries
opened fire, and were at once rephed to by the
Russians with great vigour.
It had at first been proposed that the ships
should also go into action early in the day, but
this was deferred to midday, and I think wisely,
as it was desired not to expend too much ammuni-
tion at first, which a whole day's firing would
have done ; and to have begun early in the day,
and retired at midday after a few hours, would
have seemed like a defeat, which it did not do
when they only hauled out as night came on.
The sea bombardment of Sevastopol did not
hasten the fall of the place by one hour, but I
think it was right to have it, as its result could
not be certainly foretold, and its object greatly
was to force the Russians to have a large number
of men employed in manning the sea defences.
The bombardment by the ships began about
I P.M. on the 17th, the Russians first firing on
the leading French ships.
At 1. 15 the Admiral signalled 'Sampson,
Tribune and Terrible engage the enemy,' and our
Fleet moved into action. We began firing, and
at dark returned to our anchorage off the Katcha
River, with the Fleets.
There was a good deal of unpleasant talk as
to the part played by some vessels, and the posi-
tions they took up during the action, but of this
I shall say nothing except that the English ships
which occupied the best position for damaging '
24
BOMBARDMENT OF SEVASTOPOL
the enemy were tne Agamemnon (tlagship of Sir
Edmund Lyons) and the Sans Pareil (Captain
Sydney Dacres). These were the only steam Hne-
of-battle ships in our Fleet, which of course gave
them great manoeuvring advantages.
Human nature does not alter much, and^I
imagine that in past days after every general
action opinions were divided as to who played the
best part. I have, however, little sympathy
with those who try to enhance their own
prowess by running down the conduct of
others.
I cannot refrain from mentioning the gallant
performance of the Circassia, a small paddle-wheel
tugboat brought into the service and commanded
by Mr. Ball, a second master. i
She steamed in ahead of the Agamemnon,
sounding carefully and signalling the depth of
water, to prevent the latter from running on the
shoals off the north side of the harbour's mouth.
All the sailing line-of-battle ships had steam men-
of-war lashed alongside them to tow.
The general formation of the combined Fleets
was a crescent, the French being to the south-
west, the English to the north-east, and the Turkish
ships between the two. The shoals off the northern
point of the mouth of the harbour were a great
danger, and one or two of our ships actually
touched on them.
The Agamemnon claimed to have been within
800 yards of Fort Constantine, which was a large
stone fort close to the water on the north side.
* Equal in rank to a navigating sub-lieutenant.
25
MY NAVAL CAREER
After the bombardment we observed men at
work repairing some of the forts, especially Fort
Constantine.
Had it been decided that coute que coute
the sea defences of Sevastopol should be disabled
by the fire of the ships, I suppose the way would
have been to provide plenty of ammunition, and
then, dividing the allied fleets into three divisions,
continue the attack during daylight hours till
the object was attained, hoping then to enter the
harbour and isolate the south side of the city
from the north.
I have little personal to say about the action ;
a naval cadet hardly can have. I was stationed
at the fore main deck quarters, and from the
bridle ports at times had a pretty good view. It
was certainly the greatest noise I have ever heard,
and when one considers that all the allied land
breaching batteries, and some twenty-three sail
of the line, besides smaller vessels, were firing
away as hard as they could, and that the Russians
from hundreds of guns were replying, the noise
made may be imagined.
Shells in those days were but playthings com-
pared to modern projectiles, but I remember one
coming into our quarters and bursting, and, besides
the actual harm it did, filling the place with
such thick smoke that for a few minutes nothing
could be seen at the quarters.
The Russians fired some mortar shells at the
ships, but very few hit — I only remember that one
fell on a French ship and burst ; they would, of
course, be first rate against modern armour-plated
26
CONTEMPORARY LAND OPERATIONS
ships, and, as we know, most sea defence citadels
now have guns for that purpose.
It had been expected by the Generals that
the bombardment of the 17th would be followed
shortly by an assault on the town ; but I suppose
the Russian strength, indicated by their return
fire, deterred the allies from the attempt.
Probably the first apparent injury done was
the destruction of the white stone tower on the
Malakoft, which a very few hours' firing brought
down.i
The next great event in the Crimea was the
Battle of Balaklava on 25th October, but its
history is no part of my memoir. I will only say
that some field-pieces lent by us to the Turks to
assist in the defence of Balaklava were captured
by the Russians. I have seen them at the Kremlin
in Moscow. They were, I believe, the only guns
lost by us during the war.
As regards the Turks, no braver private
soldiers, when properly led, than they are — unless
it be the Japanese — probably exist, as is well |
known ; but as regards the Sevastopol part of
the war, neither by land nor sea did the Turks
play a conspicuous part.
The third, and most severe, field fight was the
Battle of Inkerman on 5th November ; this
very distantly by spy-glasses could be seen from
* Some achieve mundane immortality — so called — in odd
ways. The Malakoff hill, I beheve, is named after a purser in
the Russian Navy of that name, who having been dismissed the
service set up a drink shop at the above place ; the Russians
being thirsty souls frequented it, and it acquired the name of
its^ublican.
27
MY NAVAL CAREER
some of the ships, but it is not for me to relate
this hard-won fight, a ' soldiers' battle ' as it was.
A desperate struggle in which our troops being
on the right or east side of the allied camps bore
the first and, perhaps, the chief part of the day's
strife ; but had we not been splendidly reinforced
and supported by the French, the day would have
gone very hard with us.
28
CHAPTER IV
H.M.S. TERRIBLE (continued)
Fourteenth November Gale of Wind — Off Sevastopol — The
Commanders — Night Attack — Kertch — ^The Trenches — The
Siege — Fall of Sevastopol — Kinburn.
' Du sublime au ridicule il n*y a qu*un pas/ though
not so for me on the nth November, when I was
rated midshipman, having been two years in the
Navy, and I much doubt if any subsequent pro-
motion has given me more, or even as much
pleasure.
The 14th November was a day to us nearly as
exciting as the 17th October, for on it occurred
the great gale of wind. Till then we were at
anchor off the Katcha River as close in as
possible to protect the watering-place from the
Cossacks, which for the moment was our special
duty.
Speaking of the Cossacks reminds me of how
ubiquitous they seemed to be : usually when we
neared the coast of the Crimea, almost anywhere,
two Cossacks mounted on small horses appeared
patrolling the cliffs or sea shore. From the
29
MY NAVAL CAREER
Katcha the Fleet obtained fresh water to drink.
Most of our vessels were sailing ships, and in
steamers at that date distilling fresh water was
in a very elementary and crude condition.
The great gale of the 14th was from the west-
ward. It began at about 9.0 a.m. where we
were. We let go a second anchor, veered nearly
all the cable we could, got up steam and
began steaming slowly ahead to take the strain
off our cables. This has saved many a ship,
but is a difficult thing to do, without at times
bringing a heavy jerk on the cables. We
being close in shore were almost in the
breakers.
Next outside us lay the Sampson, a paddle-
wheel ship. The line-of-battle ships were further
out, and many sailing transports were also
anchored at intervals among the Fleet.
By 10.30 the gale was at its highest, and
several transports were dragging their anchors
and going on shore without any possibility of
saving them.
About this time a transport ahead of the
Sampson began drifting, and fouled another,
which then also broke adrift. Both these ships
came athwart the hawse of the Sampson as I was
watching it. The Sampson gave a dive, and her
bowsprit striking the transport turned up at
a right angle. Next moment all three of her
lower masts gave way and fell aft, reminding me
of the dominoes which a child sometimes puts up
to knock each other over.
The transports then drifted clear of the
30
FOURTEENTH NOVEMBER GALE OF WIND
Sampson, and went on shore. The Sampson,
wonderful to relate, held on and was saved.
Her captain, a grand old sailor,^ as soon as
possible cleared the wreck of his masts, hoisted
an ensign and pennant on jury spars, and asked
leave by signal to fire on the Cossacks.
Our turn was soon to come.
It had been my forenoon watch, during which
the wind was so strong that it was really hard at
times to walk forward in the teeth of it. In those
days midshipmen dined at 12 o'clock on what
they could get to eat, in our case while blockading
Sevastopol not much beyond ship's allowance.
I had just finished dinner and was sitting in
the midshipmen's berth talking to my messmate,
Armand Powlett,^ when we felt a heavy shock,
and heard water pouring down the large hatchway
just outside us in the steerage. We jumped up
and ran up the ladders on deck as fast as we could,
went over to the starboard side of the quarter
deck and held on to the main topsail halliards.
The ship was nearly broadside on to the sea, rolling
heavily, and the waves were sweeping over her
and rushing below. It seemed as if she could
not be saved, and onlookers from the other ships
thought so.
What had happened was that, while steaming
ahead to take the strain off the cables, they had
got slack and a sea striking the ship on her star-
board bow, had paid her head off to port, the
best bower cable (i.e. the starboard one) had
^ Afterwards Admiral Sir Lewis Tobias Jones.
^ Now Admiral.
31
MY NAVAL CAREER
parted, and, as our only chance, the other was
sUpped, the helm put hard down, and the engines
moved ahead at full speed. Relieving tackles
were on the tiller below, without which, owing
to a mishap to the wheel on deck, the helm could
not have been kept down.
Our Captain had got on the starboard
paddle-box, which was the weather one. He
was as cool as if in a snug harbour, or a dead
calm. A tremendous sea now struck the ship
nearly on her broadside, lifting the starboard
paddle-box boat, throwing it in amidships, and
knocking the Captain off the paddle-box on to
the deck where, fortunately, he was not hurt, but
at once climbed up again.
The ship was now almost in the breakers and
her keel could not have been far from the bottom ;
however, she responded to her helm, and her
bow came up head to wind and sea. Then
she began to go ahead, got out to sea and was
saved.
So much water, however, had been shipped
that in the stokehold thirteen out of our total of
twenty-four fires were put out, and probably all
would have been extinguished and the ship lost
had not the chief engineer, with great presence
of mind, ordered the stokehold plates on which
the stokers stood to be unshipped, which allowed
the water to get down into the bilges. It was
what is called ' a very narrow squeak,' but all
was well.
The great gale of 14th November was felt
disastrously chiefly where we were, off Balaklava,
32
WRECK OF THE HENRI QUJTRE AND PRINCE
and at Eupatoria. At the latter place was lost
the Henri Quatre, a very fine two-decked French
line-of-battle ship of loo guns. The beach she
was driven on was of shifting sand ; no one was
drowned, but the ship was driven up so high,
broadside on, that I have walked along a brow
stretched from her lower deck port to the shore.
Off Balaklava, that is outside it, the loss of
ships and of life was terrible. The anchorage
was very deep ; anchors were often let go in 40
fathoms, and the shore was, in fact, cliffs of
rock, ' steep to ' as the expression is. Against
these precipices several transports were driven,
fortunately without troops on board, but their
hapless crews were there, and were nearly all
lost.
The Prince, a large steamer, was one so lost.
She had, only a few days before, arrived from
England with the 46th Regiment on board, and
a quantity of ammunition and warm clothing.
By an odd chance I had myself been sent on board
her on her arrival, but not to remain there.
Happily she had time to land the regiment before
the gale came on, but almost all her cargo and
nearly all of the crew were lost. Great misery
was caused to the troops on shore. They were
almost entirely in tents, many of which were
blown down, and even blown away.
At Eupatoria, where several men-of-war and
transports were lying, besides the Henri Quatre
already mentioned, a Turkish line-of-battle ship,
a French man-of-war steamer, and several merchant
ships were lost.
33 ^
MY NAVAL CAREER
The total loss of ships of all sorts during the
gale of the 14th was about forty-two. It was a
great satisfaction to us that no English man-of-war
was lost.
The winter was now upon us, it was a dreary
time for everyone both ashore and afloat. The
Generals had decided to put off the next assault
sine die, and only to invest the south side of
the city by land.
The Fleet's duty was to blockade closely by
sea. '
We were frequently at anchor off the harbour's
mouth day and night with steam all but up, a
small anchor down, guns cleared away and loaded,
and at night the watch lying down near their
quarters in case a Russian ship ventured out.
On 7th December early in the afternoon the
Vladimir, the most powerful of the Russian
steamers, did come out far enough to shell the
western French camp, but returned before she
could be cut off. None of our ships were off the
harbour at the moment; we were coaling, but
our steam was nearly up, and we were soon off to
help to drive her in, the Valorous just ahead of us.
On 20th December, Vice-Admiral Dundas,
Commander-in-Chief on the station, his three
years having expired, gave up the command to
Sir Edmund Lyons, and sailed in the Furious
on his way home.
Admiral Dundas, on the breaking out of the
war, found himself in a very awkward position,
as he felt his age and failing strength unequal to
the work now imposed upon him.
34
AGE RETIREMENT— THE COMMANDERS
His successor, Sir Edmund Lyons then 64
years old, was wonderfully active for his age. We
all greatly admired him, and to me and my mess-
mate, Armand Powlett, he showed much kindness.
Letters from Sir Edmund's Flag-captain speak
with great affection and admiration of him, but
show that he also felt the burden of his years,
and that, though a better officer for the post could
probably not have been found, he would ten years
earlier have been even more efficient.
My experience makes me a great advocate of |
age retirement, and indeed I believe the country |
would greatly benefit if such a regulation existed for f
ALL paid servants of the State under the Crown. I
Many men as they get old ' lose their nerve,' as i
it is called ; how should I define it ? A more i
lively apprehension of the possibility of mishap ;f
perhaps fits it. As regards the Crimean Generals, |
there were three English Commanders-in-Chief |
and also three French, as is well known. The I
first French one had to leave for ill-health after I
the Alma ; the second, a brave man, could not bear |
the responsibility; the third. General Pelissier, li
was in my opinion the great soldier of the allied I
forces, strong and determined.
As regards our three Generals, the first. Lord
Raglan, was a most high-minded and gallant
gentleman, but his age, and perhaps the strain of
having lost his right arm, were against his con-
stantly being out and about. The second was
but a short time in command ; of him I will say
no more. The third had no real opportunity of
doing much.
35
MY NAVAL CAREER
But to return to my story.
Night attacks by single ships, or two or three
in company, were occasionally made on the sea
batteries, in which we at times took part. Lights
were placed on buoys laid down for the purpose
of guiding the ships where to go, and we steamed
in a curve in front of the harbour, delivering one
or two broadsides towards the town ; and as we
did so our ships were occasionally hit by the
return fire.
The Valorous was the first ship to make a night
attack, and one of her shells passed through the
room in which the famous General Todleben was
sleeping.
On the night of i8th June, Captain Lyons,
of the Miranda, the son of Sir Edmund, while so
engaged was severely wounded in the leg, and
died a few days after. This was a terrible grief
to our beloved Admiral.
Early in April we were sent to assist in laying
the submarine electric telegraph cable from Varna
to St. George's Monastery, the western point of
the Crimea. In those days submarine cables were
rare things.
Off Cape Kaliakra we lay several days, and
used to visit there the ruins of a grand old Genoese
castle, built on a high rocky point — a relic of
the long-departed power of Genoa.
Early in May we accompanied the first expedi-
tion towards Kertch, the objects being to take
that place, enter the Sea of Azoff, destroy Russian
stores of food and do all we could to prevent
supplies reaching Sevastopol from that direction.
36
KERTCH EXPEDITION— IN THE TRENCHES
This expedition, owing to the fickleness of
General Canrobert, the French Commander-in-
Chief, was recalled before it got to the Straits
of Yenkale at the entrance of the Sea of Azoff.
On General Pelissier succeeding to the command
of the French army a second Kertch expedition
was at once arranged. We carried French troop
horses. The expedition consisted of about 15,000
troops, which were landed without opposition on
24th May. In fact our force was overwhelming
compared to the enemy's.
Kertch was pillaged and looted by the allies.
I remember entering its museum ; the building
was still standing, but its contents destroyed or
taken away. Outside the doors was the inscription
in French to the effect that we were at war with
the present and not with antiquity, &c. The
notice taken of it was to carry off what people
could, and smash the rest. This, however, was
only in keeping with what has usually happened
in war.
The Sea of Azoff is very shallow, and is getting
shallower by degrees. Our light vessels went
into it and did what destruction they could.
Off Sevastopol, at times during the summer
of 1855, 1 and others got leave to visit the camps
for a few days and to go into the trenches. This
was, of course, a great treat for us. I used to stay
with the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, a splendid
set of men to my recollection, and their brigade
was under the command of no less a man than
Colin Campbell, the future Lord Clyde.
In the Crimea for most of the time, at least
37
MY NAVAL CAREER
until wooden huts came out, the regimental
officers' messes did not exist. A few of the
officers, some five or six, formed a scratch mess
and fared as best they could. I remember the
names of those I used to stay with. Some were
killed in the Mutiny in India, and I fear all
have died ere now.
The guard of the trenches was changed every
evening, for twenty-four hours ; this was in order
that they might be as fresh as possible during
the night, when of course sorties from the city
usually took place.
Some midshipmen used to try and raise their
uniform caps on sticks above the parapet of the
trench hoping the Russian sharpshooters might
send bullets through them, so that the caps would
show the narrow escape they had had. This,
however, was not approved, as likely to draw fire
on the trenches. In wet weather the trenches
were misery, the choice at times being between
standing in water, or getting no shelter.
On i8th June took place the first great assault
on the city, preceded by a heavy bombardment
from the allied land batteries. The ships were
many of them under way off the harbour, and
I beheve their bombarding was arranged for, but
prevented by the stormy wind blowing in.
We knew an assault was to take place, but,
though we could hear heavy firing going on,
we did not till next morning know that we had
all been defeated, the French beaten off from the
Malakoff and Bastion du Mat, and the English
from the Great Redan.
38
THE AUTHOR
From a daguerreotype taken at Constantinople
1855
DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN— DISPOSITION OF FORCES
On 28th June Lord Raglan died, his death, I
believe, partly caused by anxiety, and by grief
at our repulse in the assault of the i8th. His
local funeral was a great ceremony, consisting
of the embarkation of his body in H.M.S. Caradoc
for conveyance to England. ^
From June to September the siege went on
without any very special incident. The leading
spirit was the French Commander-in-Chief,
partly from his commanding temperament, but
also because the French army greatly outnumbered
ours, being about double our force in numbers,
and they had in consequence three-quarters of
the whole land attack, that is all the left, or
western, half of it, and the extreme right, or
eastern, quarter ; we keeping the quarter between
the French trenches.
This placed us still opposite the Redan, the
French being opposed to the Malakoff on the
right, and to the Bastion du Mat, or central bastion,
on the left. I believe that either of the above
three places if taken singly, and held, would have
meant the fall of the city.
Towards the close of the siege the allies'
mortar fire was much increased and was most
efficacious. Our siege batteries too had increased
from a total of about 80 guns at the beginning
to about 200 before the end. But the French
^ General Pelissier on hearing of Lord Raglan's death at once
repaired to his headquarters, and there standing by the side of
the departed soldier, who in early life had often fought against
the French, and had lost his arm at ' King-making Waterloo.'
the French Commander-in-Chief, a man of iron in the field, shed
tears over the remains of his lamented colleague.
39
MY NAVAL CAREER
had done much more, and from 60 guns on 17th
October 1854 had now over 300 on their original
left-hand attack, and on our right had 260 ; or
nearly 600 in all.
The Russians, who also used mortars, had two
of 15 inches, our largest being 13-inch ones. The
15-inch shell passing overhead made a whistling
sound owing, I believe, to the rings for lifting
them up cutting the air. I have heard them. The
men gave those mortars in consequence the name
of 'Whistling Dick.'
The end was now near, and an assault on 8th
September was decided on. On 3rd September all
plans were settled.
As regards the Fleet it was intended they
should be off the harbour on the 8th and, perhaps,
bombard ; for the same object as previously, viz.
to keep the sea forts manned, but in view of the
allies penetrating into the town, the question of
fire from our ships became a dif&cult one. When
the day came, however, it was blowing in too
hard from seaward to manoeuvre the ships under
the forts.
The preliminary bombardment from the bat-
teries began on 5th September and continued on
the 6th and 7th. It was heavier than any pre-
vious one, and seemed quite to dominate the
Russian fire. In those three days they are said
to have lost 4000 men.
It was arranged that the French should first
storm the Malakoff, and if they succeeded make
a signal, on seeing which we should storm the
Redan.
40
STORMING THE REDAN— FALL OF SEVASTOPOL
At noon (on the 8th) the French made their
attack, and got into the Malakoff ; the Russians
were somewhat taken by surprise, and fought
furiously to turn their enemy out, but could not.
I believe the Malakoff was a complete fort all
round, and not open to the rear, which made it
harder for them to pour in reinforcements. The
taking of the Malakoff effected the capture of
Sevastopol.
At about 12.10 we made our rush for the
Redan, but two things were against us which
the French had not. First the distance from
their advanced trench to the position was only
about thirty paces, i while we had 200 yards of
the open to cross ; second, the Russians were now
all on the alert.
Some of our soldiers got into the Redan, but
reinforcements of the enemy drove them out
again. I think the siege of Sevastopol may be
fairly and shortly summed up thus :
1. Neither we nor the French could have
done it alone.
2. The English mainly bore the brunt of
the field battles.
3. The French took Sevastopol.
As soon as the Russians found they could not
retake the Malakoff, they decided to evacuate
the south side (i.e. the city) and retreat to the
north side by the bridge of boats which they had
completed by the end of August.
This they did in remarkably good order, having
^ I have stood on the Malakoff parapet and talked easily to
a man on the French advanced trench position.
41
-&
MY NAVAL CAREER
set fire to the city and forts in it, blown up the
latter, and destroyed the dry docks.
The defence of Sevastopol was splendid and
I doubt if in any other siege it has been surpassed.
I have often spoken of it to Russians, whom I have
always found justly proud, and ready to talk, of it.
The morning of the 9th showed the city obscured
by heavy smoke from the conflagration, and lit
up with occasional explosions.
I had the opportunity of visiting the lines and
the city of Sevastopol soon after its capture, and
it was of course most interesting. Anyone doing
so felt admiration for its defenders. The town
was a ruin. The bastions — so called by the
Russians — thrown up for the land defence in
many cases had a platform of heavy beams, or
timber, on which the guns were placed, and under-
neath were sort of subterranean passages and
chambers, in which the men could find some rest
and shelter, while still close to, in case of a sudden
assault.
Coming out of the town late one evening with
a messmate of mine we were caught in the dark
and lost our way ; the rain began to fall. My
messmate gave it up as a bad job, lay down and
said he would stay there. I was very tired, too,
and could not carry him ; but luckily found some
privates of the ist Royals who carried him to
their camp, where we slept in a bell tent, some
dozen in all, feet to the pole in the middle, and
heads to the side, with one knapsack for our two
heads.
Vermin infested the whole camp, officers'
42
CAPTURE OF KINBURN
quarters as well as the men's. These soldiers
were most kind to us ; money they would not take,
but we afterwards managed to send them a case
of wine, &c.
On i6th September we took to Odessa the
Russian officer who had been in charge of St.
George's Monastery near Cape Khersonese and
his family, who had in fact been our prisoners.
With them went Major Biddulph, R.A., who
though in charge of them was himself captivated
by a young lady of the family, whom he afterwards
married.
The next operation was the taking of Kinburn,
which was a fort built on a low narrow spit of
land running out west-north-west and defending
the entrance of the Bay of Kherson, into which
ran the River Dnieper, up which is Nicholaief
where all the Black Sea men-of-war were built.
Kinburn itself was a stone fort with case-
mates, and beyond it on the spit were two separate
earthwork batteries.
On 17th October we bombarded the place ;
our force was perfectly overwhelming and in less
than an hour the Russian fire was silenced and
the place forced to surrender. About 1300
soldiers, 75 guns, and many mortars were taken.
The French had some floating batteries with
ironclad sides engaged on the nth; it was the first
occasion of ironclads being in action.
We then returned to Kazatch near Sevastopol,
after which we had very cold and trying work in
embarking troops and horses at Eupatoria.
On i6th December we left the Crimea for
43
MY NAVAL CAREER
the Mediterranean, and first visiting Athens and
Smyrna, went to Malta and lay there four months.
On arrival we youngsters felt quite rich with
our allowance that could not be spent in the
Crimea, but money soon burns a hole in a mid-
shipman's pocket, and our riding and driving
about the island had to give way to walking. In
those days games were not arranged for as they
are now, and their provision has been a great boon
to all of&cers.
While at Malta we were docked and our
bottom repaired from the serious injury done
to it when we were on the shoal in August 1854.1
It was remarkable that the ship had stood
it so well, the Teredo navalis (a sea-worm) had
eaten many holes in our timbers where the copper
had been knocked off. This same worm was found
to have greatly damaged the Russian ships sunk
in the harbour of Sevastopol.
Early in June 1856 we returned to the Crimea.
The armistice was now on, and much friendly
intercourse was exchanged between the allies
and the Russians.
I visited the north side of Sevastopol, which
was very interesting, especially to see Fort Con-
stantine, and go into the ' Wasp ' battery on the
north cliff, with which we had often exchanged
shots ; and to see the marks of shell on some of
the gun carriages, which might have been caused
by the fire from our ship. The Russians were very
friendly and some were wearing their richly earned
Crimean medal.
1 See p. 15.
44
HOMEWARD BOUND
The evacuation of the Crimea by the allies
was now proceeding.
On 15th June we finally left the Crimea, with
some Royal Artillery on board, and towing the
Queen, a three-decker of 116 guns, on her way home
also with troops on board. We were now ' home-
ward bound ' and occasionally passed other ships
with bands playing ' Home, Sweet Home,' almost
at times the most pathetic of tunes. On 19th
July we reached Sheerness, and on 2nd August
we were paid off, thus ending a not uneventful
commission.
45
CHAPTER V
H.M.S. CRUIZER
Age retirement — ^Voyage to China — Gunboats.
Six weeks' leave soon passed, but it was as
much holiday as a midshipman could expect
between commissions. My uncle, Rear- Admiral
Sir Michael Seymour, was then Commander-in-
Chief of the China, East India, and Australian
stations, which in those days were all combined
together.
Owing to there being no age retirement the
flag-officers were mostly elderly men ; the Mediter-
ranean station generally had a vice-admiral as
commander-in-chief, but the other foreign
stations only a rear-admiral, or not seldom a
commodore of the first class, in order to get
young enough men.
My uncle being the Admiral in China it was
natural I should wish to join his flagship, to
which I was therefore appointed, and was ordered
to go out in H.M.S. Cruizer,
The Cruizer was a full ship rigged sloop of
46
THE MIDSHIPMEN'S MESS
about 750 tons, with an auxiliary screw able to
drive her for a short time at 6 knots or so in a
calm. She carried 17 light 32-pounders and had
a complement of 165. Her commander was Charles
Fellowes, a first-rate seaman.
*'I joined her at Portsmouth in September
1856, and at a little over 16 years old found myself
the senior officer of the midshipmen's mess, which
contained ten of us in all.
I think no one knew any of the others when
we started, but we soon found that law and order
were not our prevailing characteristics ; and long
before we reached China the mess-traps were
nearly all broken, and what was called a ' radical
mess ' prevailed.
All ships commanded by officers above the
rank of lieutenant in those days carried mid-
shipmen.
The Cruizer was a first-rate specimen of how
utterly youngsters were disregarded and neglected
as to their instruction or care of any sort ; and
of their behaviour, so long as they did the work,
deck, boat, or aloft, that was required of them.
The results were, of course, often most unfortunate,
and the percentage of those who came to grief
was far larger than is ever known now.
Of my messmates in that ship three at least
were turned out of the service, and only one
besides myself ever became a commander.
We had to convoy to China three gunboats,
the first that were ever sent abroad. They were
small vessels of 60 horse-power with one screw and
three masts, the foremast regularly stepped, the two
47
MY NAVAL CAREER
after fixed in ' tabernacles/ They had only fore
and aft standing sails, and a square foresail.
Their dimensions, &c., were as follows :
Tonnage, 319 ; length, 94 feet ; draft of water,
7 to 8 feet ; highest speed, 7 to 8 knots ; arma-
ment, two 32-pounders of 56 cwt. and two
brass 12-pounders 6 cwt. howitzers. Their com-
plement was 30. The officers were a lieutenant,
a second master, and two engineers. As a lieu-
tenant I have had casual command of more than
one of them and they were the handiest vessels
I ever knew.
The cables were worked by a deck tackle; if
weighing in a crowded harbour you hove short,
nearly up and down, then fleeted the deck tackle
to the bows, manned it, gave the order, ' Away with
the tackle, full speed ahead, hard over the helm,'
and she turned almost as if she pivoted on her
fore foot.
These vessels with us were the Haughty, the
Staunch, and the Forester. The Haughty was
commanded by the present Admiral Sir R. Vesey
Hamilton, G.C.B., than whom no officer is more
generally respected and liked in the Navy.
The Cruizer went first to Plymouth, where the
gunboats awaited her, and starting with them
put into Falmouth for bad weather. We sailed
from there on 29th September 1856 and reached
Hong-Kong on 29th April 1857, just seven months'
voyage from England. We called at Teneriffe,
Rio Janeiro, the Cape, Anger Point in Java, and
Singapore.
Off Cape Frio at about 2 a.m. we had a bad
48
RIO DE JANEIRO
collision with a merchant barque, which kept us
three weeks at Rio for repairs. The smash roused
everyone up pretty effectually. Our ' master '
(now called navigating officer), an elderly man for
his position, and perhaps uncertain of his reckoning,
ran on deck saying, ' We are on Cape Frio,' which
is where the Thetis was lost in 1830 on her way
home from the Pacific with $800,000 freight on
board ; a very interesting account of this will be
found in the life of Admiral Sir William Mends.
To return to our happily more trifling collision,
the interval between seeing the barque and striking
her was so short that the look-out on the star-
board bow gun could only just call out and jump
off it, when the gun was overboard.
This memoir pretends not to do justice to
splendid scenery, nor ventures humbly to imitate
^ Tom Cringle,' whose ' log ' is probably unsurpassed
in its description of tropical scenery and storms.
Were it otherwise Rio de Janeiro would certainly
inspire me. But probably I was most interested
in visiting the tomb of my grandfather. Admiral
Sir Michael Seymour, who died while Commander-
in-Chief on the South American and Pacific stations
with his flag in H.M.S. Spartiate, and was buried
at Rio. In those days the station included all
the east coast of South America, and the Pacific
coasts of both North and South America.
When we landed, or came off, in hired shore
boats, they were pulled by black slaves chained
to the thwarts to prevent their escaping.
From Rio we proceeded to Simon's Bay,
then, as now, our naval headquarters in
49
MY NAVAL CAREER
South Africa. We there met the Raleigh, a 50-
gun frigate commanded by Commodore Sir Henry
Keppel, afterwards Admiral of the Fleet, on her
way also to China.
While at Simon's Bay I and others went up to
Cape Town by road ; no railway then existing
in Africa, south of Cairo. The well-known half-
way house of Rathfelter with its quaint inscrip-
tion was then in its glory — the inscription being :
Multum in parvo pro bono publico,
Entertainment for man and beast aU in a row,
Lakker host as much as you please.
Very good beds without any fleas !
Nos patriam fugimus, now we are here
Vivamus, let us live by selling beer,
On donne a boire et a manger ici
Come in and try it whoever you be.
Our next port was Anger Point in Java, the
south side of the Straits of Sunda, a place then
called at by nearly all ships out to, and homeward
from, China in the pre-Suez Canal days ; and
where any amount of poultry and eggs could be got.
Our voyage to China was made nearly all
under sail only, at which the gunboats were very
poor hands, but, perhaps, equal to the ships of
Columbus.
Our gunboats frequently parted company ;
sometimes we towed them, or when we did not
were reminded of the lines of the noble poet :
What leagues are lost before the dawn of day
Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas
The flapping sail hauled down to halt for logs Uke these."
Life on board was diversified by more quarter-
deck differences than I have known in my later
50
ARRIVAL AT HONG-KONG
ships ; opinions afloat differ as much as ashore,
and the too close proximity of people not wholly
in agreement magnifies their idiosyncrasies.
Over these I will draw a veil, and only remark
that I fear we in the midshipmen's berth (then
so called) were a rowdy set, and I no better than
the rest. But our offences were but boyish
freaks, and in after life I reckoned our Captain as
one of my greatest friends, and when he died
in command of the Channel Fleet I in company
with many others greatly grieved for his loss.
We were favoured with the first of the south-
west monsoons up the China Sea, and arriving
at Hong-Kong on 29th April found there H.M.S.
Calcutta with the Admiral on board.
51 sa
CHAPTER VI
H.M.S. CALCUTTA
The Arrow Lorcha War at Canton — Fatshan Creek Action —
Capture of Canton — ^Viceroy Yeh — ^Move to the North —
Capture of Taku Forts — Tiensin.
On 30th April 1857 I joined H.M.S. Calcutta, flag-
ship of Rear-Admiral of the White — Sir Michael
Seymour, K.C.B.
At that time the three colours for admirals'
flags — red, white and blue — still existed. On
promotion to a new rank either rear-, vice-, or
(full) admiral an officer first hoisted the blue
flag, for the next advancement in his grade the
white, and in the upper grade of it the red.
The advantage of this was that if the fleet were
very large, it might be divided into three divisions
each flying an ensign of a different colour for
distinction. Commodores of the first class flew a
red swallow-tail * burgee ' and ensign, the commo-
dores of the second class a blue one.
The Calcutta was a sailing two-decker of 84
guns, built in India of teak. Her figure-head
represented Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, and was
a very fierce-looking thing.
52
ARROW AFFAIR AT CANTON
Teak is hard and durable, but slippery to
stand on when wet ; so hard that I have heard
my former Captain, McCleverty, who was a mid-
shipman in the Asia at Navarino, say that some
of the Turkish shot stuck in her sides, she being
a sister ship to the Calcutta^ and also built of teak.
It was a great change to the CalctUta as a
much larger ship, and to a mess of about forty
young officers.
In those days the lieutenants' mess was
variously called a wardroom if in a line-of-battle
ship, a gunroom if in a frigate or smaller vessel ;
while the midshipmen's mess was called the
gunroom if in a liner, but the midshipmen's
berth in all other ships. The origin of the term
' gunroom,' I believe, is that originally the sea-
men's muskets were kept there among the officers'
for safety.
I am very fond of saying, ' There is no such
thing as a trifle till you know its results.'
On 8th October 1856 the Arrow, Lorcha,
flying British colours, arrived at Canton and was
boarded by Chinese officials, who hauled down
and insulted our flag and carried off most of the
crew. And the above action on the part of some
petty custom-house officers led to the very
important events in China during the next few
years.
Consul Parkes (afterwards Sir Harry Parkes),
who was our very able representative at Canton,
at once took the matter up. Yeh, the Viceroy
of Kwang-Tung, would give no satisfaction, and
so the Consul referred it to Sir John Bowring,
53
MY NAVAL CAREER
our Governor of Hong-Kong. It was then placed
in the hands of the naval Commander-in-Chief
to deal with.
Sir Michael Seymour at once took action, and the
Canton River was blockaded. The British factories
at Shameen (Canton) were burnt by the Chinese,
and much fighting ensued, the blockade of Canton
by us continued, and in May 1857 the Admiral
onlv waited reinforcements for further action.
I wish here to remark that this book has no
pretence to be in any way the history of public
events, but only a simple memoir of my life.
H.M.S. Raleigh, referred to above, had been
wrecked by striking on an unknown rock off
Macao on her arrival in China.
It then took nearly three months to get an
answer from England, and the Admiral on his
own responsibility retained Commodore Keppel^
in command, and utilised him and his officers
and men in various ways in the squadron.
At the end of May it was decided to attack
the Chinese fleet of Mandarin junks lying up the
Fatshan creek, partly protected by their own
guns and also by a fort on Hyacinth Island.
This promised to be a very interesting affair,
as it in fact turned out ; it was to be done by the
boats of the squadron supported as far as the
water permitted by the newly arrived gunboats;
by the Coromandel, a paddle - wheel merchant
steamer bought into the service by the Admiral
and armed ; and by two paddle-wheel steamers
> The late Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel,
G.C.B., O.M.
54
ACTION IN THE CANTON RIVER
called the Hong-Kong and the Sir Charles Forbes,
hired and armed and commanded respectively
by Lieutenant J. G. Goodenough and Lieutenant
Lord Gilford, both lately in the Raleigh.
The above armament assembled in the Canton
River by the evening of 31st May. The whole
force was under the personal command of the
Admiral, but divided into two divisions, one led
by Commodore the Hon. Henry Keppel and the
other by Commodore the Hon. Charles Elliot of
H.M.S. Sybille.
As regards myself, being signal midshipman
I belonged to no boat, but I was of course most
anxious to go, so I begged our Captain (W. King
Hall 1) to send me, and he being a very kind
man did so, and sent me in our launch with
Commander W. R. Rolland and a lieutenant.
We passed the night on board a gunboat, and
long before daylight on ist June were moving,
first of all in tow of the gunboat. In those days
ships' boats were only propelled by oars or sails.
Our boat pulled 18 oars and was armed with a 24-
pounder brass gun.
The Coromandel with the flag led, and first
got into near action with the fort on Hyacinth
Island, which was finally stormed and taken.
The Chinese force comprised about one hundred
well-armed war junks, each carrying several guns,
and with stink-pots up aloft to throw into their
enemy's boats when close to. The junks were
in two divisions, the lower one near the island, the
other one three or four miles higher up.
^ The late Admiral Sir William King HalJ, K.C.B.
55
MY NAVAL CAREER
As we advanced up the creek the gunboats
one after another grounded, and the boats had
to take to their oars.
It was very exciting thus puUing up the
creek, each boat trying to be first, the men cheering,
and the enemy's shot flying by us. I was sta-
tioned by the gun in the bows, and as the fire
was mostly ricochet the shot skipped over the
water like what are called ' ducks and drakes,'
and I remember thinking that with a cricket bat
one might almost have hit them.
I have always thought that the most exciting
thing in the world must be taking part in a
cavalry charge in action, but to be in a boat
propelled by oars, among other boats, the men
pulling their hardest, shots flying by, men cheer-
ing, and guns firing, is also calculated to quicken
the pulses.
After a bit the Hong-Kong, which was leading
us, grounded and a slight check ensued.
Several shot now struck her ; but her Com-
mander — afterwards the lamented Commodore
Goodenough — backed her off the shoal. At that
moment the boats, partly to get out of her way,
turned their broadsides to the enemy. Commodore
KeppeFs galley was knocked to pieces and sunk,
the Commodore being picked up by my cousin,
Lieutenant Michael Culme-Seymour, i in our
barge ; the launch in which I was at the same
time got a round shot through her which sank
her, and at the same moment also an officer of
* Now Sir Michael Culme-Se5niiour. Bart., G.C.B., Vice-Admiral
of the United Kingdom.
56
DEFEAT OF THE CHINESE
the Highflyer was cut in half by a shot and his
remains thrown over us.
This ended our boat's work for the day ; our
first pinnace with a lieutenant and midshipman i
in her ran alongside to offer us assistance. Mean-
while the Chinese kept up a hot fire and also
shouted and beat their gongs, probably thinking
they were about to win the day. But British
dash prevailed, and so ended probably the hardest-
fought boat action since the French War, except
it may be the attack on Lagos in Africa in
December 185 1.
I am not sure our Admiral did not select the
ist June as being the anniversary of Lord Howe's
glorious victory, in which my grandfather, the
first Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, being then
a lieutenant in the Marlborough, lost his arm.
The Haughty gunboat commanded by Lieu-
tenant R. V. Hamilton ^ did such excellent service
on this occasion that the Admiral being sent
from the Admiralty a blank commander's com-
mission to give to whoever he chose, gave it to
Lieutenant Hamilton.
In consequence of the proceedings at Canton
above referred to, Lord Elgin was sent out to
China as plenipotentiary.
He arrived at Hong-Kong on 27th June in
H.M.S. Shannon, commanded by Captain W.
Peel. About this time the Sepoy Mutiny broke
out in India, and the Admiral, seeing the extreme
seriousness of it, at once sent the Shannon and
* Now Admiral Sir William Kennedy, K.C.B.
* Now^ Admiral , SirVesey Hamilton, G.C.B.
'57
MY NAVAL CAREER
the Pearl to Calcutta, which led to the glorious
doings of the Naval Brigade under their gallant
chief, Captain Sir William Peel.
I may also just remark how fortunate for us
it was that some regiments en route to China
were able to be stopped and almost at once
landed in India.
The rest of the summer passed without any
special incident with us, and as winter came on
we moved up the Canton River to prepare to take
Canton.
We anchored off Tiger Island, and our small
arm and field-piece parties were constantly on
shore there, drilling and preparing for our coming
small campaign.
I was attached to three small brass Indian
mountain guns, 12 pounders of only 3 cwt. each,
under the command of Lieutenant J. G. Good-
enough, late of the Raleigh, and now belonging
to the Calcutta ; our other officer being A. K.
Wilson,! then a midshipman.
In November our naval brigades left the ship,
and moved up to Canton, where we were for many
days lodged in a large ginger store belonging to a
great Chinese merchant called Howqua, in the
suburbs on the south side of the river opposite
Canton.
While in Howqua' s stores I remember we
midshipmen by lighting a bonfire nearly burnt
down one of the stores we lived in, but by climb-
ing on the roofs and using a supply of water luckily
kept up there, the fire was put out.
^ Now Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, V.C, G.C.B.
58
ATTACK ON CANTON CITY
On Christmas'^Day 1857 I dined with the
Admiral on board the Coromandel, and well re-
member the kindness of Captain W. T. Bate (of
the ActcBon). No officer was more respected and
liked than he was, and his death four days later
was regretted by all who knew him.
On the 29th Captain Bate, who was with the
Admiral, and looking for a good place to attack
the walls, was killed by a shot from them. The
troops were commanded by General Van Strau-
benzie ; and Lord Elgin, who during the autumn
had been at Calcutta, had now returned to con-
duct his duties as plenipotentiary in China.
On 28th December we were taken across the
river and landed to the eastward of Canton city
and slept in the open on the ground for the night,
on the hills outside it. Next day we stormed
the walls and gained possession of them, and the
question now was what to do next.
In 1 841, when our forces attacked Canton, we
took a detached fort on a hill outside the walls
to the north-east which bears with us the name
of Gough's fort, because General Sir Hugh Gough
was in command of the troops on that occasion.
We did not then take and occupy the city, but
only made terms, and exacted and obtained a
ransom of five million dollars. This was very
well in its way, but I believe the Chinese suc-
ceeded in making out to their Government, and
China generally, that the barbarians failed to
take Canton, and so obtain a real victory.
On the present occasion we did not intend
there should be any delusion about it, so a few
59
MY NAVAL CAREER
days after, on 5th January 1858, we left the walls
and entered the city.
I should explain that the walls of Canton are
both extensive, high, and massive, the sort of
walls that in pre-artillery days, if well manned,
would have been very difficult to storm.
Those who know Canton will remember the
five-storey pagoda on the walls at the north
part of the town, and the hill near it, also inside
the walls, called ' Magazine Hill,' these parts of the
walls we occupied at first, having stormed the
walls to the eastward of those positions.
The Chinese Governor of Canton was the
celebrated Yeh, a clever, middle-aged, strong-
minded Mandarin, much trusted by his Emperor ;
and who was said to have cut off more heads than
any other Viceroy. He was credited with having
had 100,000 cut off. His yamen or palace was in
the middle of the city.
For that on 5th January our advanced force
made, guided chiefly by Consul Parkes,i who,
having been our Consul at Canton, and knowing
both the Chinese and their language well, was
the very man for the occasion. On our entering
Yeh's yamen, one or two Chinese in turn came
forward and said, ' I am Yeh,' but Parkes, who
knew pretty well what Yeh was like from descrip-
tion, waved them aside and pushed on.
Captain A. C. Key,^ R.N., hurried forward
into the garden behind the yamen ; and seeing a
stout middle-aged man in Mandarin's dress and
^ Afterwards Sir Harry Parkes.
^ Afterwards Admiral Sir Cooper Key, G.C.B.
60
CAPTURE OF VICEROY YEH
hat, trying to escape and get over the garden wall,
seized him by the pigtail, and compelled him to
return into the yamen. Here he was seated in
a chair, and various Chinamen were brought
into his presence, on which they fell down and
' kow-towed,' i.e. prostrated themselves on their
hands and knees and beat their heads on the
ground.
This and other inquiries proved the captive
to be Yeh, a point very important, but a little
hard at first to settle. He was then put into a
sedan chair and carried off as our prisoner.
One of the first questions put to him was,
Where is Mr. Cowper ? I must explain that Mr.
Cowper owned the dry dock at Whampoa, on the
Canton River, some fifteen miles below Canton,
where he lived on board a ' chop ' or floating
houseboat. The previous autumn one evening
after sunset a Chinese snake boat, i.e. one pulling
many oars, came alongside, and the man in charge
of it said he had an important letter which he must
deliver only into Mr. Cowper's own hand.
Mr. Cowper came to get it; the Chinamen
seized his hand, pulled him into the boat, and
rowed off at once, and he was never heard of
again.
Yeh at first pretended to know nothing about
the above, but at last said something of the sort
did occur, and Mr. Cowper gave a good deal of
trouble, but at last died. His son ultimately
had a money compensation from the Chinese
Government.
The rest of Yeh*s story is soon told. He was
6i
MY NAVAL CAREER
sent to Calcutta as a prisoner of state, and in
April 1859 he died there. His body was then
brought back by us to Canton, but the Chinese
said they did not want it as he had been degraded
by the Emperor, and he was quietly buried ;
possibly on the same island in the Canton River
as the great and good St. Francis Xavier. Who
knows ?
It now became a serious question what further
steps to take in order that our dealings with
China should be with the real Government, which
alone could be satisfactory.
In 1793 Lord Macartney had visited Pekin
as our ambassador, and had an audience of the
Emperor, and in 1816 Lord Amherst had gone
there on a like mission. The former embassy
was not satisfactory and produced no good results,
in which the latter failed even more, as no recep-
tion of our ambassador was accorded.
It was finally decided that an expedition
should go north, to the Gulf of Pechili and the
mouth of the Peiho River, and try to get into
immediate touch with the Chinese Government
at Pekin. On 25th March 1858 we left Hong-
Kong for the north, stiU having the last of the
north-east monsoon to contend with. In April
we arrived off the mouth of the Peiho, where a
considerable squadron of our own ships and
gunboats assembled, as well as a small French
squadron, with their Admiral* s flag in the
Audacieuse.
Our ambassador, Lord Elgin, lived on board
the Furious, a paddle-wheel steam frigate. Even
62
CHINESE DIPLOMACY— TAKU FORTS
then the water was so shallow off the river's
mouth that the larger ships had to lie seven or
eight miles off the land, which being very low
was hardly visible except from aloft. It is
growing shallower now.
Negotiations were carried on for many days,
and attempts made to get leave to enter the
river, ascend it, and arrange some terms, but
these failed. The spirit of Chinese diplomacy
has always been procrastination.
The Taku forts then were almost entirely on
the south side of the river's mouth, consisting
mostly of large bastions of earth, or mud, and for
those days heavily armed with large guns, many
made of brass. Rifled ordnance was practically
non-existent anywhere then. A boom of many
wooden spars, chains, &c., was fixed across the
river opposite the forts, and secured with large
stakes firmly driven into the bottom.
I got leave to go in in a gunboat a few days
before our action, when one of the pourparlers
was going on. It was curious to be allowed to
come in close in front of the forts, but many of
their gunports were hidden by mantlets. The
front of the fort was decorated with numberless
flags, and a brave show kept up.
Till the morning of the 20th May it was uncer-
tain if they would, or would not, let us enter the
river, but failing a favourable reply then we had
said we should open fire. None came, and so
now our action began.
The French vessels were combined with ours ;
and the unusual sight was seen of the admirals
63
MY NAVAL ^CAREER
of both nations going into action on board the
same vessel, viz. the Slaney gunboat, and with
their flags both flying at the same masthead.
Surely a novelty !
The Cormorant being the largest and heaviest
vessel inside the bar was sent first to charge the
boom, which she did and broke it. She was
followed by the rest of our force, most of the
gunboats towing the large ship's pulling boats,
filled with the landing parties. Of these, I was
in charge of a pinnace.
The Chinese kept up a good fire on us as we
passed, which was well replied to by our side ;
but our great object was to pass the forts, and
land just above, and then to storm them, as
it were, on their flank. This to a considerable de-
gree we accomplished, and carried the position.
While towing in past the forts we were of
course much exposed to their fire, and some
casualties occurred. I remember a shot passing
through a boat close to mine, in which a young
seaman had lain down under what are called
the stern sheets ; the shot must have very narrowly
missed him, and as he did not reply when
called to I thought he was killed ; examination
showed he had escaped any injury, but was
much frightened.
I think no one can often have been under fire
without appreciating that some people value
their life and limbs more highly than others do.
Let me put it mildly in that way.
This leads on to the question of rewards for
\ valour, which is a very difiicult one. I know some
64
\
i
CO
H
O
H
W
O ^
U
H
CO
I— I
w
ON THE PEIHO RIVER
officers who disapprove of the institution of the
Victoria Cross, about which I feel strongly as
follows : it should have two classes or degrees —
the first and highest for going out of your strict
orders to do something of extra risk that positively
assists to accomplish the service in hand ; and
the second for incurring a gratuitous risk, not
interfering of course with your proper duty, to
save a conarade.
There is a rise and fall of tide of many feet in
the Peiho River, and it was a question when to
attack as regarded that. Our Admiral wisely
chose the first of the flood, which meant our being
lower down and many shots passing over us, as
well as our having a fair current helping us in,
and rising tide in case of grounding.
We had on landing to wade through soft mud
quite up to our knees ; but as we neared the
forts the Chinese fell back and ran away, their
Mandarins or officers setting them the example.
A serious explosion occurred in the forts, per-
haps owing to the carpenter warrant officer of the
Fury smashing with a hammer a large chattie
full of gunpowder and so striking a spark. He
and many others fell victims ; and the sight of
the terribly injured survivors, some with clothes
and hair gone and blackened with powder, was
shocking.
The next move was to go up the Peiho River
to Tiensin and then see what would follow.
We had now no more forts to stop us, and in
a few days arrived at Tiensin. To the Chinese
we must have been an extraordinary sight, as
65
MY NAVAL CAREER
unless some of the older people could remember
Lord Amherst, who forty-two years before arrived
in a ship and went up by boat, no one had
ever seen an ' Outer Barbarian ' there, still less
steamers.
However, the Chinaman is not very demon-
strative in his astonishment, which is often
confined to ' Ay yah, what piecy pidgeon
that ? '
It is a matter of history that at the end of
June a treaty of peace was signed at Tiensin by
Lord Elgin, Baron Gros (on the part of the
French), and a Chinese Mandarin called Keying,
which seemed to grant all that we required.
No doubt the Chinese all the time laughed
in their sleeves as the expression is (and Chinese
sleeves are loose and large), and with their usual
policy of procrastination said to themselves,
' We shall by this means get rid of the *' foreign
devils '* for the present, and the future must
look after itself.'
I was in my boat at Tiensin, I and her crew
sleeping in the Coromandel] the weather was of
course very hot, and the sun powerful.
Our Admiral had since he came on the station
allowed officers to wear a special sun hat made
of white pith, admirable against the sun's rays ;
but I foolishly despised it, and only wore a
uniform cap.
The result was to me a sort of sunstroke, and
bad fever, necessitating my being sent down to
the ship. I suppose I nearly died, though I
did not somehow expect to. But it led to
66
GENERAL SUCCESS OF CALCUTTA MIDSHIPMEN
my being sent to the Pique, which was going
home.
I was very sorry to end my service under the
flag of my uncle, Sir Michael Seymour, but the
medical authorities advised my going home, and
as all prospect of further fighting just then
seemed — and was — over, it perhaps was not
quite so much to be regretted.
Promotion in the China Squadron was rapid
at that time. From the Calcutta alone while I was
in her, one commander was made captain, and
five lieutenants were made commanders, besides
some junior promotions.
But I cannot leave the subject of the Calcutta
without one or two remarks about her. Her
midshipmen, generally, were more successful in
the service than those of any other ship I ever
heard of. About seventeen got on to the active
list of captains, and at least eight on to the flag
(or admirals') list. In after years on one day
three of us were flying our flags in the same
harbour. What was this due to ? I will not
pronounce, but our Captain, W. King Hall, took a
real interest in his youngsters, who also had the
benefit of a first-rate naval instructor, the present
Professor Sir John Laughton.
I also look back with extreme respect and
affection to our Commander, the late Commodore
Goodenough, than whose example no one's ever
was better, or impressed me so much.
We were devoted to him. He was strict,
however, and often mastheaded us, or put us in
watch and watch for so many days, i.e. to keep
67 ^»
MY NAVAL CAREER
four hours on deck and four hours below alter-
nately day and night. This with our other
duty was no joke. But he was always just, and
acted from the highest principles, and this we all
felt. When I left the ship he wrote me a letter
that gave me the greatest pleasure.
68
CHAPTER VII
H.M.S. PIQUE, MERSEY, AND IMPERIEUSE
The Pique — Long China Sea Passage — Gale of Wind — ^The
Mersey — I pass for Rank of Lieutenant — A Smart Ship — The
Imperieuse — Passage to China by Great Circle Track.
From the Calcutta off the Peiho River I and two
other midshipmen from that ship joined H.M.S.
Pique for passage to England. The Pique was
a 40-gun saiUng frigate, 167 feet in length, her
main trunk being about the same height above
the water, and with a complement of about
three hundred.
She was a ' Symondite* vessel, i.e. she was built
from the designs of Admiral Symonds, and was
first commissioned in 1835 to try her then new
lines, which may shortly be described as greater
beam than former ships of the same length, and
carrying her extreme beam well above the water
line.
She was the same ship that in 1835 was badly
injured by grounding on the coast of Labrador,
and then crossed the Atlantic with a rock sticking
in her bottom, and that lost her masts in December
1840 in a gale of wind off the coast of Syria.
69
MY NAVAL CAREER
Our Captain had to consider how he could
best get to England, having the prospect of the
south-west monsoon in its full force against us
all down the China Sea. In view of this it is
quite possible that our quickest way would have
been to cross the Pacific and go home round Cape
Horn, but the usual route by the Cape of Good
Hope was chosen, with the result that we were
a good seven months on our way home.
We sailed from the Gulf of Pechili early in
July 1858, were thirty days beating down to
Hong-Kong, fifty days from there to Singapore,
and twelve days thence to Anger Point in Java.
In fact you might say we were over three
months with the ' bow-lines hauled,' to use a
nautical expression. But probably the modern
naval officer has no idea what a bow-line is ! —
or was.
On joining the Pique I was an invalid, and her
Captain, Sir Frederick Nicolson, kindly placed
me at first in a cot in his fore-cabin; but youth
quickly either dies or recovers, and before a fort-
night I begged the Captain to treat and employ
me like any other midshipman, which he did, and
a month saw me as midshipman of the maintop
aloft for a long time, beating into Hong-Kong
in a blazing hot sun.
The Pique was one of our ships at Petropau-
lousky, and one of her officers, Lieutenant R ,
told me this story of himself there.
They had landed to attack the Russian batteries,
and our allied small-arm men, French and English,
appear to have got somewhat scattered. Suddenly
70
AN INCIDENT OF PETROPAULOUSKY
he saw a party of armed seamen near him, and one
of them pointed his musket at him, and seemed
about to fire. Lieutenant R was rather
short-sighted, and taking the party for French-
men, held up his sword and called out, ' Ne tirez
pas. Je suis Anglais.' This made the man for
a moment hesitate, but apparently thinking better
of it, he again pointed his musket and fired.
Lieutenant R fortunately had on a belt with
a pouch full of cartridges ; this the bullet hit,
and so did not enter his body, but the blow
doubled him up and knocked him down. The
Russians ran up to finish him off, but luckily
he was at the edge of the cliff, not precipitous
but steep, and down this he rolled to the beach
below, and so escaped.
A long sea voyage has not much of interest to
relate ; to a mere passenger it is no doubt tedious,
but to a real sailor, in the ship he belongs to, it
means daily work and, in the good old sailing
days, the delights of seamanship, and indeed of
yachting on a grand scale.
In the Pique I learnt much seamanship, and at
times the senior midshipmen, I being one, were
allowed to keep ' of&cer's watch,' i.e. be in charge
of the deck.
The excitement of tacking the ship was delight-
ful. She had been over four years in commission
with a fine ship's company, and things 'flew'
on board her, and for a boy to command nearly
a hundred men, who rushed about at his order,
was a proud position.
Even work aloft was exciting ; at the order
71
MY NAVAL CAREER
' reef topsails ' for instance, with a strong breeze,
the ship heehng over fifteen degrees or more, and
the weather rigging as taut as a harp-string — to
run up it followed by a crowd of top men was
splendid. But this may not interest others, only
I wish to record the sort of life sea work was
then.
One of our officers had a small Pekin dog,
which one morning at sea fell overboard; the
Captain ordered the ship to be hove to, and a
boat sent to try and pick it up. I was sent in
charge, and when about to give up the search,
we saw the wretched creature's head just visible
in the trough of the waves, and it was saved.
We had one night in my middle watch one of
the worst thunder-storms I ever saw, and on that
occasion at the ends of two spars aloft were what
are called ' St. Elmo's lights '; they look just
like bright lanterns burning there, and are indeed
electric lights, things then not invented by man,
being caused by the immense amount of elec-
tricity in the air.
We lay a few days at Singapore and then
went to Anger Point as mentioned above, where
homeward-bound ships took in their stock of
fowls and eggs for sea.
In the straits of Sunda between Java and
Sumatra we fell in with the Nankin, a 50-gun
sailing frigate, also homeward bound from China.
The Nankin was a new ship that commission,
and a beautiful vessel, finer lines than the Pique
and more fitted for light winds than we were.
Her captain was senior to ours, and made
72
RACE WITH THE NANKIN-^SIMO^'S BAY
us a signal to close, and then to try the rate of
sailing. For two or three days we did so, and as
all yachtsmen know, trying one vessel against
another is often exciting, and is the only way
to find out what trim of the ship, and what point
of sailing as regards the wind, best suit your
own vessel. Finally, with the wind nearly a
point before our beam in a fresh breeze and just
able to carry topmast studding-sails, we walked
away from the Nankin, and left her out of sight
astern, but she arrived at Simon's Bay before
us after all.
A few days before reaching Simon's Bay,
when off Cape Agulhas, in the middle watch a
heavy north-west gale of wind came on and lasted
some twenty-four hours. It was an interesting
experience, for the seas there are large : the ship
was reduced to only close-reefed maintop-sail and
forestay-sail and the former blew away. There
was no real danger as we were not on a lee shore,
and the ship was a good sea boat and well handled,
but routine had to yield to the weather altogether,
a variety much appreciated by many of us.
Our stay at Simon's Town was for a few days,
enough for us to make a trip to Cape Town : the
sort of holiday that perhaps only a sailor much
at sea can really properly appreciate. From the
Cape we went to St. Helena, running up there
with the south-east trade wind blowing so steadily
that the running ropes could be left quiescent,
sufficiently for us to paint both the upper deck
and even the yards aloft. I only mention this
to show what the trade winds can be.
73
MY NAVAL CAREER
It was my first visit to St. Helena, where even
the prosaic mind of the midshipman thinks of the
once mighty Napoleon. Some of us rode out to
Longwood and visited both the house and the
tomb of that wonderful man.
Over the latter grew a willow tree; we were
anxious to get some sprigs — or cuttings — of it
to take to England, and plant there. For this
purpose I climbed up the tree, and was soon
attracted by a serious altercation between one of
my messmates and an infuriated Frenchman,
who was, or constituted himself, the guardian of
the tomb and tree.
While lying here I remember a British mer-
chant ship was also at anchor and flying a white
ensign at her peak, instead of a red one. Our
Captain, as was right, sent a boat on board her and
brought the white ensign away. While on the
subject I must say I am of opinion that the
proper ensign of a man-of-war should be confined
exclusively to H.M. ships ; not to yachts, except
with a device added.
After St. Helena we called only at Ascension
Island, which we took possession of in 1815 when
Napoleon was placed in St. Helena, as a further
security against any attempt to help him to
escape.
Ascension Island is of volcanic origin, and
probably Madeira ages ago was in much the same
condition. Only the higher part of Ascension,
called the Green Mountain, is now covered with
vegetation, but what there is is gradually increasing
and extending downwards.
74
1 *
AN EXAMPLE OF INANIMATE BEAUTY
Ascension, though only eight degrees south of
the equator, is kept cool and airy by the south-
east trade wind. The thermometer is usually
not above 80°, and the place is very healthy.
Its ' garrison,' or inhabitants, are entirely naval
officers and men — seamen or marines — with their
wives and families, and many of them get ex-
tremely fond of Uving there.
I never admired any ship I served in as a
picture more than I did the Pique, In the
modern ships I can see no beauty, except as a
means — we hope — in case of war of bringing in
the war indemnity. But ' the winged sea-girt
citadel ' was a thing of positive beauty : one could
look at and regard her like one would a very
fine animal, I had almost said a pretty woman !
Now do, or will, this or the next generation
admire the modern armoured ship or torpedo
boat — shall we also say submarine ? — as much as
we did the frigate, and some other vessels of the
past ? If so I can only say that there is no such
thing as inanimate beauty, but it is only a
question of what you are used to — a very low
standard too. Ask the Royal Academy about
this!
In February we got into the Channel, bent
cables to the anchors, cables being kept unbent
in the open ocean, and hove to for soundings
with the deep-sea lead.
This in those days was almost a ceremony :
the ship had to be hove to, the lead line passed
forward outside the ship from aft, and when
thrown in, the line was gradually quitted in turn
75
MY NAVAL CAREER
by men all along the hammock netting, calling
out in their turns, ' Watch, there, watch ' — each
waiting to see if the line was * up and down,'
meaning that the lead was on the bottom, and
if so what depth was marked on the line. Now
Lord Kelvin's admirable sounding machine has
changed all that.
We anchored in Plymouth Sound, the ship
having been five years away from England.
Too long for several reasons ; many on board had
long got quite tired of each other, and showed
it plainly.
We paid off in the Hamoaze, i.e. Devonport
Harbour, but first completely unrigged, dismantled
and gutted the ship. Masts, guns, stores, and all
movables were got out of her. Though a good
sound ship she was never commissioned again,
but now lies as a quarantine vessel (if so required)
in Plymouth Sound.
To give an idea of the way money was kept
owing to men in those days, I may mention
that I remember one seaman receiving over £ioo
at the pay table.
I made no effort to select my next ship,
and was appointed to the Mersey, fitting out at
Portsmouth.
She was a new screw frigate, by far the largest
and most powerful one in the service, and we all
felt about as proud of her as if she had been the
first Dreadnought.
She had 40 guns, the ones on the main deck all
lo-inch — then the largest calibre — and on the
76
H.M.S. PIQUE
Forty-gun sailing frigate
1858
EXAMINATION FOR LIEUTENANT'S COMMISSION
upper deck 68-pounders. She could steam 14
knots, then most unusual ; though this would not
be thought much of now.
The Mersey as a lasting ship was a failure,
her scantling was too slight for her engines and
her guns. At full speed under steam her masts
actually shook, and I have seen the topmast
rigging flapping against the topmasts. Her seams
to some degree opened and let the water through.
She only lasted one sea-going commission. Per-
haps the fact is that to stand the strains of power-
ful machinery and heavy ordnance a vessel should
be built of iron, or better still of steel.
My time to pass for lieutenant was up six
months before, but I had to wait for age, to be-
come nineteen, which happened in a few weeks'
time, and I passed in seamanship, on board the
then new naval cadets' training-ship the Illustrious
in Portsmouth Harbour. To show how different
the examinations at that time were I may state
that my Captain then said, ' I give you a month
to get through gunnery and the College.'
For the first of them I was three or four weeks
working on board the Excellent and living in the
old Naval College in the dockyard, at which place
I went afterwards through my examination in
navigation, &c. For both the above examina-
tions we used to ' cram ' privately : for gunnery
with a gunner of the Excellent in Portsea, who
made a very good thing of it ; and for the College
examination with a private mathematical in-
structor on shore.
In those days the examinations were what
77
MY NAVAL CAREER
would now be thought very easy, which was
necessary, as our instruction in most ships was
nil, or, if not quite that, shamefully neglected ;
and if the examinations had been what they are
now, nobody would have passed, and the Navy
would have come to an end for want of ofi&cers !
Read Marryat's novels, and see his mention of
examination for the rank of lieutenant; it was
then only before three captains, and an hour or
little more metamorphosed the midshipman into
a master's mate — now sub-lieutenant — and if
his father was a peer, or influential M.P. on the
then Government's side, probably at once into
a full-blown lieutenant, with one ' swab ' or
epaulette on his right shoulder.
Yet the Navy saved England, and saved
Europe ; and fully justified Macaulay's famous
remark, ' but the British Navy', no misgovern-
ment could ruin ' : and I believe it is the same now.
I served in fivejships, as naval cadet and
midshipman for a period of six and a half
years — not including the Mersey — during which
time I certainly had not the benefit of any
naval instructor's tuition for over two years at
most, and the Calcutta was the only ship I was
in, in which any of the superior oJBBicers took
any interest in whether we learnt anything or
did not.
The Pique, carr3dng several youngsters, was
over five years in commission, but never had a
naval instructor, or anyone to teach them.
whatsaying this, I am only wishing to show
In an extraordinary and beneficial change
78
INCONGRUITIES OF THE OLD SYSTEM
has come over the Navy as regards its young
officers' training and teaching ; and you cannot
wonder that in those days many of them ' came to
grief ' as the expression is.
About my ' passing days ' I will mention no
names, but I was with a luckless lot, none of
whom rose in the service.
The ' Keppel's Head ' on the Hard is now a
grand hotel, in its way ; its predecessor was
a humble hostelry, much frequented by naval
officers, and its landlord, George Clarke, respected
and beloved by all who knew him.
The evening of the College examination I was
in there, and we were comparing our answers to
the different questions in the ' College sheet.'
One officer said to me, * Well, I fear you will be
turned back (or ' goated ' as the expression
was), for all my answers are different from yours
and I believe mine are right.' This was not
reassuring to me, but when we went in next day
to hear the results the Clerk of the College said
to my friend, ' Mr. H perhaps you would
rather not see the Captain (who gave or refused
the certificates) as you are turned back for the
third time,' which meant dismissal from the
service.
Another officer who had been acting-lieu-
tenant on a foreign station for three years, and
was trying to pass at the same time as myself, was
turned back and lost all the above seniority ;
and when he passed had to join a ship as a mate
(now sub-lieutenant). In these days midship-
men whose time is up to pass are sent home as
79
MY NAVAL CAREER
soon as possible for their examinations, which
is quite right.
While I was at the College a large passenger
sailing packet from India arrived one night at
Spithead, and as she rounded the Nablight to bear
up for her anchorage she somehow caught fire
aft, the wind then fair, i.e. astern, fanned the
flames, and she arrived about midnight burning
fiercely. All that could be done was to save life,
and the passengers came on shore in night attire.
A steam sloop was lying at Spithead about to
sail for a foreign station, and after the wreck had
become helpless this vessel was ordered to get
under way and fire into her to sink her, but as
she fired the burning wreck lightened, and drifted
at last on shore off Haslar Hospital.
In June, having finished my examinations, I
rejoined the Mersey as 'full-blown mate,' a fine
old title that I was proud of. A few years after
the Admiralty — in a fit of, shall we say snobbish-
ness ? — altered the title to sub-lieutenant, and on
the same principle should have changed midship-
man to ' Ensign de Vaisseau * !
The Mersey belonged to the Channel Fleet ;
she was perhaps the best specimen of a man-of-
war that I ever was in.
Both her captain and her executive officer —
first-lieutenant in a frigate in those days — were
noted as smart officers and good seamen. I am
bound to say that the ship was called uncom-
fortable, owing to the amount of work on board,
and the restriction of leave ; but after aU a
smart ship is not only right, but is the most
80
CHINESE REFUSE ADMITTANCE TO THE PEIHO
satisfactory one to serve in, and we had our
diversions.
One evening lying in Plymouth Sound, I
and a messmate tossed up who should at once
jump overboard dressed as we were, and the
other come after him to save him. It fell to my
lot to go first, which of course I did, and I being
in good odour with the superior powers my mess-
mate, who was not so, also escaped blame.
In August we got the startling news of our
defeat on the Peiho River, in our attempt to take
the Taku forts. The naval excitement about it was
very strong, and I was of course mad to go back to
China at once, and having some interest I was
appointed to the Imperieuse, just about to sail
for Hong-Kong. The fight on the Peiho on
25th June 1859 came about thus. Mr. Bruce,
Lord Elgin's brother, was sent to ratify the treaty
made in 1858, which by mutual agreement was
to be ratified at Tiensin within a year. Our
Admiral, Sir James Hope, who had lately suc-
ceeded to the command in China, escorted Mr.
Bruce with a squadron, though no force should
have been required. The Chinese broke faith,
and having restored the Taku forts and rearmed
them, refused us admittance to the river. It
became then the AdmiraPs duty to endeavour
to force a passage in.
The boom proved too strong to be passed ;
our people behaved with great pluck and
energy, but kept before the guns of the forts
the fire was too hot, and some of our vessels
were sunk.
81 ^^
MY NAVAL CAREER
It was then resolved as a last resource to land,
though in front of the forts, and try to carry
them by assault — wading through deep soft
mud.
It was probably a forlorn hope, and it failed ;
but we had incurred no dishonour. The Admiral
was wounded, and many officers and men killed
and v/ounded. The strength of the boom was
really the determining factor. Of course I was
not there, but as I not long after joined the
Chesapeake, Admiral Hope's flagship, I have
heard everything about it well discussed.
I joined the Imperieuse at Devonport, and
remember for the first time in my life — though
often after — being struck with the contrasts of
ships' sizes, and how one gets to think whatever
vessel you are in is the normal size, and that
other ships are unduly large or small.
The Imperieuse was the first 51-gun screw
frigate in our Navy. In 1853 she came to Spit-
head just commissioned, and I remember going
on board her from the Encounter and thinking
her enormous. When I joined her from the
Mersey she looked quite cramped and small, yet
the differences were not really very much.
She had been commissioned for the Channel
Fleet, but in consequence of our disaster on the
Peiho, was suddenly ordered to go to China to be
flagship of Rear- Admiral Lewis Tobias Jones
(mentioned before in the Sampson in the
Black Sea), who had preceded us by mail to
China, to take command if Admiral Hope did
82
VOYAGE TO CHINA
not recover from his wound, or if he did to be his
second in command.
Our Captain was anxious to get out as quick
as possible. We made most of the voyage under
sail, steaming only when required. In those
days steam was only looked on as an auxiliary.
We called at St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands,
for coal, and some of us had a sporting episode on
shore which might have been more serious than
it was.
We then made a sort of great circle track,
going down far south of the Cape of Good Hope
to get also the strong westerly winds of the South
Atlantic and South Indian Oceans.
The seas there between 40° and 50° of south
latitude are the heaviest in the world, and when
running with a strong breeze aft or quarterly, it
is fine to watch a following sea that, looking much
higher than your hull, first lifts your stern and then
your bow as it passes, seeming at first to intend
to swamp you, and on second thoughts only to
sweep you onwards on your course.
We were about seventy days out of sight of
land, between the Cape Verde Islands and Java
Head, a thing not common anywhere with men-
of-war nowadays.
Christmas Day is still the great yearly festival
in a man-of-war, and it was then also a day of too
much licence.
The morning after Christmas we were running
before the south-east trade winds in the East
Indian Ocean, with studding sails on one side,
I was officer of the morning watch, and of the some
83
MY NAVAL CAREER
150 men, ' Watch and Idlers/ who should have
answered their master round the quarter-deck
capstan only about half could do so properly. I
thought to myself, if a man falls overboard, now
what should I do ? and came to a decision ; but
happily the event did not occur.
The Imperieuse all her commission leaked
badly, and on our way out it took a sub-division
of the watch some quarter of an hour twice a day
to pump her out with the hand pumps, when we
were not under steam.
When between Anger Point and Singapore,
and passing through the Straits of Rheo one
morning a marine fell overboard. I was on the
main deck at the time, and a young officer who
saw it happen announced it in a very ordinary
tone of voice. I got into a port and seeing the man
going astern took it into my head to jump after him.
But I was never able to reach him. There are
many sharks there, but I do not think he was
taken by one. He simply went down, and though
I dived I could not see him.
At first I tried to encourage him by calling
out, * Do keep up if possible for a few seconds ' ;
but I must confess I was reminded of Mr.
Winkle and Mr. Pickwick at Pear Tree Green
pond. By no means do I wish to joke about
so sad a thing as a fellow creature's death,
but only to relate a fact.
The life-buoy was at last let go, and failing
all efforts to reach the unfortunate man, who
was evidently lost, I disregarded the life-buoy
and swam towards the boat which had been
84
APPOINTED LIEUTENANT ON THE FLAGSHIP^
lowered, arguing to myself that a shark could get
me on the buoy, but that if I met the boat I
should be less time exposed to him.
I afterwards heard that the remark was made
about me, * Well he must be born to be hanged
and not drowned.'
At Singapore we took in a deck-load of coal,
to steam up the China Sea against the north-
east monsoon, and so made a good run up to
Hong-Kong.
We found the Commander-in-Chief, Sir James
Hope, here in his flagship the Chesapeake, and a
few days afterwards he had a blank commission
for lieutenant sent him from the Admiralty, and
in a very kind and complimentary way gave it to
me, and took me into his flagship.
85
CHAPTER VIII
H.M.S. CHESAPEAKE, COWPER, AND WATERMAN
The Chesapeake — Tah-lien-wan Bay — Port Arthur — An Execu-
tion — Taku Forts taken — Tiensin — Nagasaki — The Cowper
— The Yangtse River — Nankin — The Waterman — Canton
River — Pagodas — The ' Cat ' — Evacuation of Canton.
In February i860 I joined the Chesapeake, a
frigate very similar to the Imperieuse, From
now till May we remained at Hong-Kong very
busy preparing for the expedition to the North,
and the harbour filling with men-of-war and
transports.
Lord Elgin arrived from England to act again
as our plenipotentiary, and Sir Hope Grant as
the General to command our troops.
In May we left Hong-Kong and went to Tah-
lien-wan Bay, where all were to rendezvous
before the campaign began. This place is an
inlet of Korea Bay, but is now much better known
as Dalny. In i860 it had only some small
Chinese villages on its shores, and the neighbour-
ing coasts were most imperfectly known and
hardly surveyed at all.
Our Admiral sent the gunboats to examine
86
HANGING A MARINE AT THE YARDARM
the coasts near, and the Algerine, commanded by
Lieutenant W. Arthur, i returned with the news
that she had found a very good harbour ; which
the Admiral named Port Arthur after its, so to
speak, discoverer.
While we were here, a tragic event occurred
on board the Leven gunboat. A marine of that
ship called Dalhanty, having committed a theft
and knowing he would be found out and punished
(no doubt flogged), made up his mind to deserve
still more. He was servant to the Lieutenant-
Commander, and taking his master's revolver, he
shot him from behind, in his cabin. Having done
this he hid the revolver under his coat and went
on deck. No one there had heard the shot fired.
He approached the next officer in command — a
* second master ' — and very respectfully said,
* The Captain wants you in his cabin.' The officer
suspecting nothing went down the ladder, but
as he reached the bottom of it Dalhanty fired at
him and wounded him also. The marine was
then secured.
Both officers recovered, but the crime was
as bad as it could be. A court-martial was held,
and Dalhanty was sentenced to death, and the
day after the sentence was hanged at the yard-
arm of the Leven.
For this the gunboat was anchored close to
us, and as I happened to be doing duty as flag-
lieutenant at the time, I was with the Admiral
on our bridge.
* The late Admiral Arthur, C.B. The origin of the name
of this now famous place is, I believe, little known.
87
'ri
MY NAVAL CAREER
The naval procedure m such cases is to place
the prisoner on a platform under the fore yard-
arm, the rope being rove through a block at the
above, and manned by men from different ships.
To do this every ship present sends a boat manned
and armed to surround the execution ship, and
the bow men of every boat are those sent on
board to man the whip.
A gun is fired and the man is run up to the
yardarm, where a stop is broken so that he falls
about ten feet as a drop. In this case the body
then swung for an hour at the yardarm, before
being buried in the sea. This is at present the
last execution on board one of our ships.
On 26th July the expedition left Tah-lien-wan
Bay for the mouth of the Peh-tang River, a few
miles north of the Peiho, and the transports of
both nations, the French and ourselves, assembled
there.
Landing the troops and preparing for the
advance on the Peiho River to attack the Taku
forts there, was a slow business. Allied operations
are apt to be slow, and if slower than they should
be, one nation can always throw the blame on
the other ; which has often been done.
It was not till the 21st August that the first
fort was taken on the north shore of the Peiho
River. The fall of this led at once to the capture
of the more important fort on that side. After
that the Chinese felt the southern forts to be un-
tenable, and so the allies became masters of the
place.
Immediately afterwards our Admiral pushed
88
AT TIENSIN
on up the river to Tiensin, and the advance there
was followed by the armies.
In this campaign I took no part as a com-
batant, and so as to me it is only a matter then
of what I heard, and now of history, I will not
here relate it.
I was in charge of our working parties in
the southern forts, which gave me a good oppor-
tunity of seeing them. They did credit to the
Chinese and were in fact massive earthworks,
raised on earth bastions, planted on the low and
almost muddy shores of the river ; for those days
heavily armed, and the guns well placed and
mounted.
Outside the forts the approach of storming
parties was rendered difficult, partly by the
ground literally bristUng with sharp stakes of
different sizes, some one or two feet long out of
the ground, some only a few inches, and here
and there you found what are called crow's
feet.
My work at the forts being over, I got leave
to go up to Tiensin. I had hardly got there
when orders came to explore the river above that
place towards Pekin, and report if it would do
for a flotilla to ascend it, carrying stores, ammu-
nition, &c.
The senior officer at Tiensin happened to
be my old Captain in the Terrible, and Com-
mander Goodenough (late of the Calcutta), who
was then in command of a ship there, was
selected for this service. Between the two I
was seized on to go also, and very glad of
89
MY NAVAL CAREER
course I was. We started in two gigs, so called.
The weather was hot and sleeping in the boats
no hardship.
It was curious to see the Chinese. We had our
small-arms of course, but could have offered no
real defence if fired on from the banks. However,
the Celestial showed no doubt his sense in not
molesting us. Indeed at places they kow-towed
to us, a thing always unpleasant to my feelings
when performed to me.
I forget how far we went or for how many
days, but the report of my senior officer, Com-
mander Goodenough, on our return was in favour
of a flotilla ; whose proceedings and valuable
services mav be read of bv those who choose,
in the archives of the military expedition to
Pekin.
I may just add that the Admiral meant me
to go with this flotilla, which was commanded by
Captain Roderick Dew, my former superior in
the Encounter, but I could not be found, owing to
the above expedition ; and my place was taken
by my good and valued messmate. Lieutenant
Marcus Hare, afterwards lost in the Eurydice.
This prevented my seeing the Summer Palace,
well looted and destroyed — so supposed — in re-
venge for the certainly inhuman treatment of
our countrymen captured by the Chinese, of
whom only two survived. But I must not
digress into history. This last relates how the
treaty was signed by the plenipotentiaries, Lord
Elgin and Baron Gros.
The retention of the aUied forces in the pro-
90
IN THE YELLOW SEA
vince of Chili was very well arranged, and it was
a very nice question. It was not desirable to
leave sooner than was necessary, but to have
been caught by the freezing up of the river and
its approaches would have been very serious.
Enough to say that the happy mean was
attained.
In the Chesapeake we stayed off the Peiho till
late in the year and spent out Christmas at the
Miatou Islands in the Gulf of Pechili ; the last
two syllables of which name are very applicable
there in the winter.
Pekin is about the same latitude as Lisbon,
and the Peiho River is on an average frozen up
for quite seventy days every winter, and the
ice has been known to form for thirty miles off
the land and even to fill the harbour of Chefoo
by its drift.
In January we went to Nagasaki, then I think
the only place in Japan where foreigners were
allowed to land. All the Japanese were in native
dress, and every yakonin, or gentleman, walked
about with two swords, the long one to kill his
enemies, and the short one to kill himself — if
required to do so to avoid disgrace. ^
From Nagasaki we went to Woosung and
almost at once it was arranged to send an expedi-
tion up the Yangtse-kiang River to open its
trade to Europe. A small squadron of light
draft vessels was formed, and a paddle-wheel
* A Japanese midshipman committed suicide or ' Hara Kiri '
on board one of our ships, to avoid discredit for not learning as
well as his Japanese brother officer.
91
MY NAVAL CAREER
steamer called the Cowper, which had been
bought into the service, and drew only a few
feet of water, was one of the above. Her Com-
mander had been my superior as first-lieutenant
in the Cruizer, and as she was to be manned
from the Chesapeake I was selected to go as her
executive officer.
This was pleasant for me. We fitted out at
Shanghai, and the Admiral decided that as the
Cowper, which was built for a passenger steamer
on the Canton River, had much room we should
take up several merchants representing the British
firms at Shanghai, who were of course most
anxious to go.
The squadron consisted of the Coromandel
with the Admiral's flag and seven other vessels.
We left Woosung on 12th February 1861 bound
for Hankow.
The same day the Cowper and the Centaur
ran aground, the river at that time being very
little known, and its shoals frequently shifting.
We were three days on the bank ; it was freez-
ing hard, and the keen north-east wind on our
beam made things worse. The bulkheads were
of the thinnest description. In the deck house
where I and several more slept, we rigged up an
iron oil cask as a stove, and used to go to sleep
with it red hot, and wake up with the water in
the place frozen.
At last we got afloat and arrived at Nankin.
This place, formerly the seat of the Ming
Dynasty government, should certainly be the
92
THE PORCELAIN PAGODA AT NANKIN
capital of China, chiefly because it is so central;
also because it stands on the bank of the Yangtse-
kiang, or ' Child of the Ocean.'
Nankin is said to have been the capital of
China since a.d. 420, when it was removed to
Pekin.
It covers an immense space and is not less
than seven miles across. It is waUed round, the
walls in some places being over fifty feet high,
and their extent is twenty-two miles. This space
was never built all over, but contained gardens
and even cultivated fields.
Just outside the city wall at the south-west
side once stood the beautiful Porcelain Pagoda,
the only picture of which that I know of is in the
Admiralty Chart of the Opium War time. It was
probably over a hundred feet high, and the
outsides of all its bricks were covered with a
coating like china of various colours. I have one
perfect brick of it procured at our visit from the
mournful remains of the pagoda, which had been
blown up and so destroyed by the Taiping rebels,
who in 1853 captured the city, and held it till
1864.
When we were there the Tien Wang — or
* Heavenly King,' who was the head of the
Taiping rebels— lived in Nankin, and kept a sort
of court there.
He gave out that he was a Christian, no
doubt in hopes it would get him the countenance,
if not the actual support, of the western nations ;
and had living in Nankin, under his protection
to give colour to the above, an English Protestant
93
MY NAVAL CAREER
missionary, the Rev. 0. I. J. Roberts, who paid
us a visit on board.
The latter wore Chinese dress, and no doubt tried
to do good, but the really blasphemous doctrines
enunciated by the Tien Wang forced him to give
them all up as hopeless.
The Taiping rebellion began about 1850. Its
object was not, like the Boxers in 1900, against
the Outer Barbarians, but was anti-Dynastic, i.e.
against the Manchu sovereigns. It was ended,
as is well known, by Gordon's ever-victorious
army about 1864. The rebels committed awful
slaughter, and devastated many flourishing places.
They cut off their pigtails, which are of Manchu
origin, and wore their hair long all over the
head in ancient Chinese fashion, and were often
called ' Changmows,' meaning long hair, in con-
sequence.
The towns we passed were mostly in the
hands of the rebels. At Nankin the avenue to
the Ming tombs from the city has on each side
of it large stone figures of men and of various
sorts of animals, now falling to pieces.
It is a common saying about a road in China,
' good for ten years and bad for a thousand.'
This is of important roads paved at first with
large smooth blocks of stone but never mended.
Our squadron was gradually diminished as
we got up the river, ships being stationed at
different places. On this occasion I went no
higher than the Poyang Lake, where the Atalante,
another merchant steamer bought into our service
for a time, was temporarily stationed, and I was
94
TO HONG-KONG IN THE WATERMAN
put pro tern, in command of her. The Admiral
went on to Hankow, which is 676 statute miles
from Shanghai.
We took up with us an expedition consisting
of four persons, Colonel Sarel, Captain Blakis-
ton, and two others. Their object was to
explore the river as high up as possible, and
probably then make their way through to India ;
which intention, having got about 1800 miles up
the river, they had to give up, and returned.^
Our Yangtse expedition was now over, and we
returned to Shanghai.
On our return in the Cowper to Shanghai I
found there the Waterman, whose late Lieutenant-
Commander had just been promoted out of her.
The Chesapeake, to which ship I really belonged,
had gone down to Hong-Kong, and I was ordered
to take the Waterman down there, the same
vessel that in 1857 ^^^ been commanded by Lord
Gilford at the Fatshan Creek action.
She was an old paddle-wheel steamer, built in
India of teak, and had the old-fashioned flue
boilers made of copper, both things long obsolete
now.
Once she had been called the Sir Charles
Forbes, so she was as used to aliases as a twice-
deserted Bounty man. I had no officers for the
voyage down except two engineers ; however,
we got there all right, and as the Chesapeake was
going home, and the Imperieuse, to which ship
^ See The Yangtse, 1862, by Captain Blakiston.
95
MY NAVAL CAREER
Sir James Hope shifted his flag, had no vacancy,
I was left in my new ship, and began a curious
commission.
The only further officers given me were a
second master, equal to acting navigating sub-
lieutenant, named Sherwin, who had just been
promoted from ordinary seaman in the flagship,
a most unusual proceeding ; and a boatswain
who had just got his warrant.
To man the vessel various captains were
told to send me a few men, so they naturally
selected their bad characters, no doubt feeling
sure they would all turn over a new leaf in new
surroundings. It was also, of course, a compli-
ment to my moral example over men, at the
expense of their own personal influence ! — but
these charitable hopes were not justified. I had
also a few Chinamen as part of my crew.
We were stationed for the summer up the
Canton River. I will not say it is the hottest naval
station in the world as I believe the Persian Gulf
is worse ; where I have been what is cadled
' credibly informed ' that in summer the star-
board watch lie down on the upper deck and
sleep, while the port watch pump water over them
to cool them : and afterwards take turn about.
Canton was still held by us, so a few small
ships had to be kept in the river. I lay mostly
at Whampoa, and used to cruise about in a boat
I had specially rigged, making expeditions and
sleeping in her, by which I got to know the river
and its creeks pretty well. I also climbed up
three or four of the tall pagodas. Everyone
96
CHINESE PAGODAS
knows what a Chinese pagoda is Uke. If not
let them go to Kew and see the one there. Their
object has been much disputed, but I firmly beheve
they were erected at very various dates to propitiate
the ' Fung Shui ' or spirit of wind and water.
There is no doubt, for example, that the one
on the banks of the river below Hangchow,
where is the highest Bore in the world, was built
to control the Bore.
The legend is that a General, a native of Hang-
chow, was put to death unjustly by the Emperor,
and that in revenge the Fung Shui made the
Bore, which so terrified the inhabitants that the
authorities built the pagoda as a peace-offering.
Marco Polo, who visited that region, does not
mention the Bore, which he surely would have
done had it existed then. I do not say this
proves the above legend, but it seems to show
that some change since his days has caused the
Bore.
To climb a new pagoda — but I never saw one —
you would ascend by stairs through the thickness
of the wall, alternately from outside to inside,
and the reverse, then when inside cross the floor
to the next flight, or when outside walk round on
a narrow ledge till you come to it.
My pagodas had usually lost their floors, and
the ledges were often broken, but with ropes and
planks we usually got up them, and took away
a bell off the edge of the roof, or left a flag flying
on the top.
One dark night when in mid-Canton River our
boat was capsized by a sudden shift of wind, and
97
MY NAVAL CAREER
in a moment was keel up. We could all swim,
and by degrees unrigged the boat, uprighted her,
baled her out, and re-rigged her.
Meanwhile I at one time swam away to get
something floated off ; I had in the boat two of
my Chinamen, who missing me said : ' Oh Missa
Sherwin I too muchee fear Captain have go bottom
side.'
On one occasion I landed at night with men
to get a tree I wanted as a spar — it proved a heavier
job than expected, and it was broad daylight
before finished ; also we had to get through a
Chinese burial-ground, to, I fear, the detriment
of some graves ; which I regretted, as the Chinese
greatly honour their dead.
In Canton is a mortuary where the bodies
of the rich are often kept many weeks, or even
months, in magnificent coffins, waiting till the
Joss man finds out and indicates the fortunate
spot to be buried in. This is, I believe, always on
a hillside, where the interment then takes place,
and a handsome stone covering is placed over the
tomb, usually in a crescent, or half-circle, hori-
zontally on the ground.
I have referred to my ship^s company's
characters. So bad a lot I have never had to
deal with, and whatever may be thought of it
in these humane days, I must confess that it was
only by the wholesome deterrent influence of the
' cat * that I kept order on board.
As regards this mode of punishment I have
these few remarks to make. A hundred years
ago it was administered both in the Navy and
98
FLOGGING IN THE NAVY
Army in a degree foolish, inhuman, and dis-
graceful to the services.
Forty years ago in the Navy it had got under
such proper restrictions, the men were so pro-
tected from its hasty or [ill-judged use, and it
was so seldom carried out, that only sentiment
could condemn its existence. Ships often then ran
a whole commission without the punishment, the
knowledge of its possibility being sufficient.
Like that I would have left it, practically a
dead letter, but yet a deterrent.
Often since then I have seen a really good
man ruined for life, and his family also, by a long
term of imprisonment — sometimes five years'
penal servitude — for an offence, not really dis-
graceful — insubordination perhaps — for which a
few years before he would have had a moderate
flogging, unknown outside the ship, and not
there thought a disgrace, unrecorded on his
certificate and forgotten ; his family ignorant
of it, and still having his money remitted to [
them, and nothing to prevent his rising to warrant ''
rank.
Which of the two above pictures is the kinder ?
Would the parent of a public school boy rather
have his son ' swished ' or sent to prison ? Once
done away with I agree it cannot be restored,
public feeling being what it is.
I dare say those — if any — who read the above
will pronounce me a hard-hearted tyrant : still I
do not think I am so; but anyhow I am not
ashamed of my opinions, because they are based
on long experience of sailors, and my only
99 « 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
object can be the real good of men and the
service.
At the end of the year 1861 we evacuated
Canton, having held it all but four years, and
returned it to the Chinese Mandarin Government.
This was done with more than one day's cere-
monies at which I assisted.
I am sure that many, perhaps most, of the
peace-loving, industrious, and trading Chinese
were very sorry to lose us. I know a good
many shopkeepers, who could, left for Hong-
Kong to avoid being squeezed by the Mandarins.
This was my last job in the Waterman] ships
were no longer wanted in the same way up the
river, and we were paid off at Hong-Kong, and
our ship was sold for about ^6000.
100
CHAPTER IX
H.M.S. SPHINX AND IMPERIEUSE
Wreck of the Noma — Pelew Islands — Caroline Islands — Mariana
Islands — Shanghai — Taiping Rebels — Ward's Contingent —
Ship on Fire — Loss of a Gun — Naval Brigade — Singpoo—
Kahding taken — Cholera — Gordon (Pacha).
On leaving the Waterman I went to the Princess
Charlotte, the ship of the senior officer at Hong-
Kong, to await passage to the flagship then at
Shanghai, a vacancy having occurred on board
her and the Admiral kindly appointing me to
fill it.
While thus waiting I was employed running
gunboats about on various errands, which I liked.
One time I took out a gunboat, out of commission,
with only a few of my men; she had no masts
in, and so was dependent only on steam. At
night on our way back to Hong-Kong the leading
stoker rushed on deck and said, ' Oh sir, the
engineer is drunk and has let all the water out
of the boiler, which is getting red hot, and now
he wants to let in lots of cold water to cool it.'
What the result would soon have been all engineers
know. The only thing to do was to draw fires,
lOI
MY NAVAL CAREER
anchor, so as not to drift on shore, and let the
boiler cool. The senior naval officer, to whom
of course I reported it and who was the kindest
of men, let the engineer off because he had a wife
and family.
Let it not be supposed that I have a word to
say against the engineers of the Navy. They have
served us well, and the improvement in them in
all respects since I joined the Navy is extra-
ordinary. Now as a class they are abolished.
The above is only a small episode.
Just at this time orders came from the Admiral
to send the Sphinx on a cruise to the Caroline
Islands to try and rescue a shipwrecked crew,
whose history so far as then known was simply
as follows.
An English barque called the Noma had
sailed from Australia for Hong-Kong with a
cargo of coals, and had run on shore on the St.
Augustine reef,^ latitude 6° North and longitude
158° East, and become a wreck. The captain,
first mate, and some men had escaped in the
long-boat and reached Manila, whence news came
to China. The second mate and remainder of
the crew were left on the reef.
On hearing of this our Admiral had sent a
ship, the Pioneer, to look for the men left behind.
She reached and searched the reef, but found no
men there, only a record in a bottle saying what
^ On the same reef a few years before the Constance of Antwerp
was wrecked. Her crew got away in two boats, one of which
reached the PhiHppine Islands, after great sufferings, and
having killed and eaten two of their shipmates.
102
SEARCH FOR WRECKED CREW OF THE NORMA
had happened and that they also had left the reef
in a small boat. The Pioneer returned to Hong-
Kong, but the Admiral was not satisfied and so
sent the Sphinx for further search.
At this time that ship's Commander had just
been invalided home, and her First-lieutenant
was very ill. So the senior officer at Hong-Kong
ordered me to go in her, against my wish, as I
wanted to join the flagship, where fighting the
rebels was going on. In the Navy one has to obey
the last order, so I joined the Sphinx, She was
a paddle-wheel sloop of six guns.
From Hong-Kong we went to Manila, and
then searched the Eastern Philippine Islands for
the missing men ; thence going to the Pelew
Islands, a most interesting group.
In 1783 the Antelope, an East India Company's
ship, was wrecked here, and the King, Abbe Thule,
let his son, called Prince Le Boo, be taken to
England, where he died. In return for the
kindness of the natives to the Antelope's crew,
the company sent a present of cattle, pigs and
fowls, which had greatly increased in numbers.
The cattle were almost wild. The name of the
islands is from Palos, the Spaniards giving it on
account of the tall straight trees.
Arrived at Corror Island, where the King lives,
we at once began friendly relations with him.
He knew nothing of the men we looked for, but his
quondam subjects at Babelthuap Island, the
largest of the group, led by a Manila trader had
revolted; and he knew not if our missing men
were there or not.
103
MY NAVAL CAREER
When the King returned our Commander's
visit, he came in a large war canoe, and dressed
in a very gaudy uniform, looking like that of a
Spanish Colonel.
Soon after the King landed, our Commander
did so, and surprised his Majesty reclining, by
the side of the road, in a state of nature, his
uniform lying near, and trying to get cool. Still
' such divinity doth hedge a King ' that his
courtiers stood respectfully round him.
So to Babelthuap we went in our boats, our
acting-Commander, Ralph Brown by name, and
myself. This was a few days' pleasant expedi-
tion. The natives at once began hostilities, which
lasted two days, fighting in boats and up the
creeks ; but the Noma's men were not there.
On our return to Corror we were received with
honour.
In Oceania city banquets and royal decorations
exist not, but the extremes of tropical hospitality
were extended to us ; till with much regret we
had to leave these most friendly people. Our
interpreter was a man called John Davey, who had
been a seaman in a brig trading to the Matilotas
Islands, not far off.
When leaving all hands except two got into
a boat to tow the brig out. The natives saw their
chance and boarded the vessel, leaving the boat's
crew no option but to pull to sea for their lives.
They reached the Pelew Islands, and afterwards
all but Davey left in a passing trader, but he
having a native wife, and still more being tattooed
all over, decided to finish his life here. His case
104
PELEW ISLANDS
is nearly parallel with that of Gonzalo Guerrero,
in Yucatan, related by Washington Irving.
Trade to the Pelew Islands was small, and
chiefly for beche de mer and tortoiseshell. The
former is a sea slug, about six inches long, found
on the coral reefs. They are cut open and dried,
and then taken to China, where they are esteemed
a delicacy.
I am sorry to say that a few years after our
visit a white man was killed in these islands, and
a man-of-war was sent to investigate the matter.
Her captain had no good interpreter, but was full
of zeal. It was evident a white man had been
killed, and as something had to be done, he had
our dear old friend Abbe Thule (still the title)
shot. I fancy this is not the first time zeal has
outrun discretion !
From the Pelew Islands we started eastward,
having an almost continuous easterly wind to
contend with. Expecting this we had brought
many axes. We now called at various islands, and
when we did so landed our men and cut down
trees, and brought off wood till we could only just
move along the deck ; then went to sea, and burnt
the wood mixed with coal, but it was soon expended,
and after that we sailed only till next time.
In this cruise we did what is very interesting
but equally rare now, viz. called at islands where
there was no trace of their having had intercourse
with Europeans. These islands were mostly
roughly indicated on the chart, but that was
all. Some were small atolls, with only twenty or
thirty people on them. Their food was fish,
105
MY NAVAL CAREER
fowls, cocoanuts, turtle in season, and some
vegetables.
Sharks are very plentiful in the "^Caroline
Islands. At one place we caught several, and one
day I remember hauling one in, and on cutting
him open we found three fins, and the tail of one
of his relations inside him, and not yet digested.
They belonged no doubt to some caught and cut
up that morning.
At the same place I and the paymaster of the
ship nearly came to grief. The wind was blowing
off shore, and to leeward two or three miles off
was a small island. We started in a skiff under
sail to run down to it, which was no doubt rash
of us.
The wind got worse, we could not return, but
got through the fringing coral reef and landed.
When we tried to return our boat began to fill, as
soon as her nose was outside the reef. Thinking
of the sharks we just succeeded in re-landing,
wet through, which, however, in the tropics
niatters little. We took off our clothes to dry
them, and as night came on went to sleep. Ulti-
mately we were rescued by a large boat from
the ship.
My companion, one of the best messmates I
ever had, seemed fated. He was drowned in the
Woosung River, below Shanghai, with others, their
boat being swept by the current into a stake
fishing-net.
At last we reached the Hogolu Islands, and
as one morning we closed the land saw a boat
running off to us under a canvas sail. Great
io6
GUAM ISLA CARA
excitement prevailed. She came alongside with
two or three of the Noma's men, and this story.
They had run westward before the wind, and
at an island east of this had landed for water,
and the natives had seized some of their crew,
but these few had escaped and got on here. As
the distance was not many miles, we made a
boat expedition there, and rescued the few sur-
vivors of the capture, and taught their captors a
lesson.
The kind natives of Hogolu were rewarded ;
and having got all the Noma's crew who survived,
we bore up for Hong-Kong, via Guam in the
Mariana Islands.
Guam Isla Cara, I will never call these islands
by their old Spanish name of ' Ladrones ' {escepto
del corazon). Magellan discovered these islands
in 1520. But the days are long past when Doctor
Samuel Johnson could write of such :
No secret island in the boundless main,
No peaceful desert, yet unclaimed by Spain.
Guam now flies the Stars and Stripes, and America
seems inclined to reciprocate the claims once made
on her by Iberia.
In Guam few horses existed, and we often had
to put up with oxen, not only to drive, but to
ride. We spent but too few happy days there in
the society of some charming Spanish ladies,
with whom more than one of us fell in love, and
a longer stay must have meant marriage.
I will say no more, except that we left Guam
with the greatest regret, and finally reached
107
MY NAVAL CAREER
Hong-Kong nearly out of both coal and pro-
visions. But our work had been well accom-
pUshed, and our able acting - Commander was
promoted.
On our return — we were four and a half months
without any news of the world — we heard of the
sad death of the Prince Consort, then four months
past ; of the beginning of the great Civil War
in the then Dis-united States of America ; and
of how nearly the Trent affair had produced war
between us and the Federal Government.
On leaving the Sphinx I went to Shanghai
by P. & O. steamer and joined the Imperieuse,
Admiral Hope's flagship, and my former vessel,
as a mate. She was lying off the Settlement, and
very exciting times were passing.
The Taiping rebels were devastating the pro-
vince in the vicinity of Souchow and Shanghai,
and even threatening the latter place. A very
mixed contingent had been organised to resist
them, and at this time it was commanded by a
United States citizen called Ward, who I believe
had been a filibuster previously in America.
Ward's force consisted of pretty nearly any
white man that he could get ; and he had under
him some deserters from our Navy, and probably
Army too, enticed by the promise of good pay
and occasional loot.
For a time our Admiral did not countenance
him for the above reason, but the time seemed
to show that it was best to make use of him,
io8
THE TAIPING REBELS
and so it came to pass that he was acting in con-
junction with our naval and miUtary forces.
I knew Ward a Httle. He was my idea of a
typical modern western state soldier of fortune,
energetic and quick, with a fine flow of strong
language, and able to deal with the very mixed
lot under his command.
Attacking Singpoo on one occasion he met an
acquaintance, one of the opposite side, and fired
at him, but missed. The other rejoined, 'What !
Captain, can't you shoot straighter than that ? '
and put a revolver bullet into his mouth, from
which, however, he recovered. Not long after he
was killed in the neighbourhood of Ningpo, and
he was succeeded in the command by a man of
much the same type called Burgevine, whom I
also remember.
To be a mercenary, or soldier of fortune, is
very well if you can arrange to be either killed
at once, or only slightly wounded, or better still
not wounded at all ; but their position if maimed
or badly hurt is a poor one.
Burgevine was wounded in the stomach, and
I fancy suffered much pain which drove him to
drink. Difficulties ensued, and if I remember
aright he turned over to the rebels' side, but
was taken by the Imperialists.
The United States Consul made interest for
him with the Taotai of Shanghai, but the only
result was a report that he had unfortunately
been drowned, or met with a fatal accident.
Life counted for very little then and there.
About the time I got to Shanghai our Admiral
109
MY NAVAL CAREER
was wounded in action with the Changmows, and
the French Admiral Protet was killed.
I commanded a company of small-arm men
at his honorary funeral. I say honorary because
the body was sent to France. At the above
ceremony a custom I have not seen elsewhere was
observed ; viz. that the men, after the (temporary)
interment in a sort of cave, all defiled past the
coffin in single line, and as they did so each in
turn discharged a blank charge from his rifle into
the tomb.
One day about noon at Shanghai a large
United States mail steamer about to sail for San
Francisco caught fire. She was lying above us
and the current was running strongly down the
river. I went on board with men, fire engines, &c.,
to assist, as did others from the men-of-war of two
or three nationalities. The ship soon became
a sheet of flame forward, and evidently could not
be saved. She broke from her moorings and
began to drift helplessly down the river to the
alarm of the many ships below.
The awkward part on board was that the
seamen, both her own and those from the men-
of-war, got at the wine stores and began to hastily
sample the liquor. I saw men with a bottle in
each hand of different brands, the necks of both
bottles knocked off, alternately tasting each,
and their lips bleeding from the sharp glass. Our
anxiety of course was not to leave these votaries
of Silenus to perish in a fiery furnace. The
steamer was, of course, destroyed, but no other
ship was damaged.
no
ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE KAHDING
About this time an unlucky episode occurred.
Our ship was almost denuded of ofJficers and
men. From the Admiral downwards, all who
could be spared were away fighting the rebels.
Only the two junior lieutenants remained on
board, I being junior of all. News arrived that
the town of Kahding held by the Imperialists,
and distant some thirty miles, was fiercely beset
by the enemy, and unless reinforced would
probably fall.
The senior naval officer at Shanghai was
the captain of a man-of-war troopship, and of
course was referred to. He decided to send some
hired boats, with stores and ammunition and
what men could be scraped together ; also a
i2-pounder brass field-piece that remained in our
ship, with its seamen crew, and a midshipman ; but
that his first-lieutenant should go in command.
Of course this made us very angry. The lieu-
tenant, my senior, could not go, being in charge
of the ship, but I could. So I went on board the
senior officer's ship politely to remonstrate, until
I was ordered to leave his ship at once.
The sequel was this : The expedition started,
but when about half-way, going along a narrow
creek came to a town, and saw a strong party of
rebels entering it. They landed our gun to fight
it and had to cross the creek by a narrow stone
bridge, where it got jammed. The rebels won
the day, the gun was lost, also the boats' stores,
&c., and the sole survivors were those who
hastily retired with only what they stood up in.
Our Admiral was, of course, very angry, and
III
MY NAVAL CAREER
the Flag-Captain said to me, ' Well, Seymour,
of course they should have sent you, but you
were perhaps well out of it as your choice might
have been to be killed or to run away. '
Kahding fell into the hands of the rebels, and
I was at the re-taking of it later on. Of course
in all fighting with the Chinese, especially with
the rebels, quarter by them is never given. It
was the same with the Boxers in 1900.
During the summer of 1862 I was for a time
away in command of a small-arm party of seamen,
attached to the soldiers, and under the superior
command of the Brigadier-General (Stavely).
This of course we enjoyed, and not the less that
we then got Indian pay and allowances. I was
paid as a captain in the Army, the same rank as a
lieutenant, R.N., which just doubled my pay.
During the above we took Singpoo from the rebels,
the place I referred to before.
The summer passed away in the above manner,
but our ship's company from over-exposure to
the heat, &c., became sickly, and we went to
Chefoo at the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili
to recruit our health.
In October we returned to Shanghai, and an
expedition was arranged to retake Kahding,
under the immediate command of our Admiral,
and with some French allies. I had command
of two small-arm companies. This part of China
abounds in narrow creeks, and our way there was
made mostly by water.
Society at Shanghai possesses many house-
boats, commonly called ' chops/ for shooting,
112
CHOLERA EPIDEMIC
or other pleasure parties, to go away and live in.
One of these seemed desirable for our accom-
modation and was accordingly ' requisitioned '
by my enterprising midshipmen for our small
family, consisting of ourselves and a commissariat
officer, always a very good friend to have.
On our way back my young officers annexed
some Chinese coolies employed by the French,
and an interchange of hostilities in consequence
was very narrowly avoided.
The attack on Kahding was well arranged,
and the place soon stormed and taken, but
misfortune attended our return in the shape of
an epidemic of cholera. This was the first time I
had been among it since the Black Sea, in 1854.
I suppose everything almost, except a broken
bone, is now caused by a microbe ; but if so it is
curious how at times in places a narrow line seems
drawn for a disease. I have heard of it in ships,
and on this occasion on shore at Shanghai, as
regards neighbouring houses.
The above was our last active service against
the rebels, and our Admiral, whose time on the
station had already been extended, was relieved
by Admiral Kuper.
It happened that at this moment the Imperial
Contingent, which I have mentioned on p. 108,
was without a leader owing to the disappearance
of the unhappy Burgevine. It was a nice ques-
tion who should succeed him. No one seemed
specially prominent.
At this juncture Sir James Hope proposed
that our Captain of Marines, who was a very good
113 '
MY NAVAL CAREER
officer, and had for a year on and off been em-
ployed against the Taipings, should have com-
mand of the local Imperial Army. This was
agreed to by the Taotai of Shanghai, and the
above officer took the command, with his subaltern
from our ship as his staff officer.
We now left Shanghai, but what followed
was that in a very few months the above
arrangement broke down. The post was without
precedent, and required perhaps a genius.
There happened to be at Shanghai a young
and then unknown officer of Royal Engineers,
named Charles George Gordon, to whom was
given the command of what then acquired the
name of the ' ever-victorious army.'
It has been said ' Happy is the nation that
has no history,' and perhaps the same applies to
a sea voyage, for an ordinary one is not interesting
to the general reader. From Hong-Kong we left
in November for England, of course round the
Cape of Good Hope, and nearly four months'
voyage took us to Portsmouth, where we paid off
in March 1863. The commission had been of
much interest, and the ship a united one, and had
changed her officers comparatively little.
114
CHAPTER X
FLAG-LIEUTENANT
Old Portsmouth — Channel Islands — Pirate Story — ^Anecdote of
Nelson — Garibaldi — ^Lady Smith — Royal Yacht — French
Fleet— Gale of Wind.
In March 1863 I was appointed Flag-lieutenant
to my uncle, Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, the
Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth.
In those days most admirals' commands —
except dockyards — entitled the Admiral on
hauling down his flag to give a commander's
commission to a lieutenant qualified by seniority
and service for it. It was customary, and almost
understood, that these promotions went to the
flag-lieutenant. So the above appointment had
much advantage for me, besides a three years'
spell of agreeable service.
It was really my introduction to shore life
and society in England, and though a naval
ofiicer's first requirement is to command a ship
at sea, the higher he gets in the service the
more he needs to be also something of a man of
the world. At Portsmouth much could be picked
115 I 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
up of one's profession, besides which I got the
habit of reading, and learnt one or two things
useful in society.
No old town that I know is nearly so much
altered as Portsmouth and Portsea are since
1863. In those days both places were enclosed
in their own fortifications, i.e. regular ramparts,
with ditches, and narrow gates with drawbridges
to them.
The idea was that each town should be inde-
pendent of the other, and that one might be
taken and the other hold out ; which possibly
could once, for a short time, have been the case.
Between them was a large salt-water lake,
now occupied by the recreation grounds and
public gardens. This lake was, of course, fed
from the harbour, and the block between it and
the sea was called the ' Mill dam,' because a
mill had stood there to grind corn for the garrison
as required, and its position had contained the
mill redoubt.
Just beyond the present Naval Club as you
go towards Southsea were the southern lines of
Portsmouth, and in them a gate and a drawbridge,
at which it is said Lord Nelson as a captain was
nearly killed by the horse he was riding bolting
for the gate, a cart being in it and no room to
pass ; but that Captain Nelson saved himself
by jumping off the horse.
When I entered the service the dockyard
ended at the Anchor gate, and Whale Island was
no larger than a big ship's upper deck. As
regards Portsmouth Harbour, it is really only a
116
CHANNEL ISLANDS INSPECTION
ditch after all, much increased and improved
by dredging. But it can only be entered, or left,
by large vessels at limited times of tide, and with
tugs to help, and very skilful handling.
Part of the duty of the Portsmouth Port
Admiral was to visit yearly the Channel Islands,
to inspect the naval boys' training establishment
at Gorey in Jersey. This he did in his official
yacht the Fire Queen, a paddle-wheel steamer that
had belonged to Mr. Assheton Smith, of fox-
hunting renown.
My uncle always took a party, among them
relations, and we much enjoyed it. Another
vessel was required, and the old Sprightly went.
My contemporaries will well remember her and
her fine old ' Master Commander,' G. Allen, a
regular specimen of the old British naval salt.
Allen has described to me when as a boy he
saw the crowd run to see Nelson embark for the
last time to pull off to the Victory at St. Helens
in September 1805. Afterwards Allen served in
the Walcheren expedition.
By Mr. Childers' retirement scheme Allen was
retired and put on half -pay. The change of life
soon unhappily killed him !
At Alderney one sees how absurdly the public
money can be wasted, more than, perhaps, at
any other place. I believe the history of it is,
that when during the Napoleonic wars we were
blockading Cherbourg it was thought a harbour
at Alderney for our ships to run into for shelter
would be useful.
The work was begun about the middle of last
117
MY NAVAL CAREER
century, and as ships increased in length, the first
plan was altered by turning the breakwater out-
wards to give more room inside it. This made
a ' re-entrant ' angle and a weak spot through
which the sea made a breach.
The water deepened as they worked out, and I
think about 1872 the authorities saw what an
error had been made in doing anything at all
there, and the matter was abandoned. The
forts also, of which there were fifteen erected on
the island, became practically valueless.
The interesting and surprising thing about it,
to my mind, is the evidence of the extraordinary
power of the sea ; I have been there as late as
1877, and seen pieces of rock equal in bulk to a
cube three feet through, that after a heavy gale
from seaward were found lying on the footway
inside the breakwater.
Now the breakwater there was some twenty
feet of perpendicular stone wall on its outer side,
of which say half was above high-water mark ;
this wall sprang from a slope of stone foundation
that rose from a depth of quite ten fathoms there,
so the above piece of rock must have been lifted
by the sea and thrown over the wall. At least
that is what the people there declared must be
the case.
We went all three years to the Channel Islands
and called at St. Malo and Cherbourg. This
latter is a fine specimen of what art alone can do
to create a naval port, but such a one can never
be satisfactory against the modern long-range guns.
The statue of the great Napoleon I admired with
118
A PIRATE STORY
his ' J'ai resolu de renouveler a Cherbourg les
merveilles de TEgypte/ inscribed on it. Just the
sort of way he would have put it I think.
I went to Mont St. Michel, which is indeed
unique, and overshadows our St. Michael's
Mount in Cornwall. While here we made acquaint-
ance with a young priest of the Roman Church,
who was anxious to point out to us the mark of
the foot of the Archangel Michael when he de-
scended and first alighted on a rock near Doll, a
few miles inland of Mont St. Michel, and before
the Archangel went there.
One day from Portsmouth I went with the
Admiral to visit an old friend of his, by name
Admiral Walcote ; in his dining-room was the
picture of a fine brigantine lying in a tropical
creek, of which the owner told us the following
story.
He was First-lieutenant in the Tyne at the
time in the West Indies, and they were in pursuit
of this vessel called the Zarngozanna, which was
a noted pirate. At last they came off the entrance
to a narrow creek which they knew of in the Isle
of Pines, and where the pirate ship was lying.
Two other vessels were with the Tyne, but could
not go up the creek ; so the only thing to do was
to send the boats in and attack with them. This
they did, and after a good fight they carried the
brigantine and defeated her crew.
The captain of her, Aragonez by name, a
Spaniard, was not killed or very badly wounded.
He was taken on board the Tyne, the Captain of
which said to him, * It is a sad thing, sir, to see
119
MY NAVAL CAREER
a fine young man like \on in this position ' ; to
which the pirate repHed, ' Don't worry yourself
about me; if I had got you Fd have hanged you
up to my yardarm/ There is the true pirate
spirit !
The pirates were taken to Kingston, Jamaica,
tried, and twenty of them hanged at ' Gallows'
Point ' now Port Royal, when the pirate captain
cheered his men up to the gallows.
Read ' Tom Cringle's Log,' that book whose
descriptions of tropical scenery are unsurpassed,
and in Chapters IX and XI you will see what
might almost be these very episodes ; though I
think the first is meant for another occasion also
at the Isle of Pines, which is an island south of
Havana, in Cuba. Here a lieutenant (Layton)
went in in a gig to reconnoitre and was fired on ;
a midshipman (Stroud) and some of the crew
were killed, the lieutenant was taken prisoner
by the pirates and murdered. Finally the pirates
were destroyed and their schooner which they had
sunk was got up again.
The position of flag-lieutenant at a home
port has its advantages and pleasures, but pro-
vides no matters of professional interest.
I preferred hunting to any other sport, and
carried it out as far as I could afford to. There
were three other lieutenants stationed in the port,
who were equally fond of it, and so we often made
a party. We were nearly always with the Ham-
bledon Hounds, because they were our nearest ;
at that time their master was Earl Poulett, who
spent a lot of money on them, though they were
120
HUNTING
also a subscription pack. Four advertised meets
a week were the regular thing, but they were
often out more than that.
I have seen our M.F.H. amused and heard him
make caustic remarks on young naval officers, when
things were dull, 'larking' over anything pro-
mising that was near. But in many cases the
mounts were ' hirelings, ' and the Sea Nimrod was
anxious to get his money's worth out of the
animal.
I believe some people have wondered that
sailors should be so fond, as they often are, of
riding ; but if you consider the classic legend of
the naming of Athens, I think you will see we
have a natural tendency — or right — to be fond
of horses, considering that their origin is there
said to be owed to our Father Neptune.
We used also to go with the H.H. and the
Hursley Hounds, but that mostly required train-
ing out and home, which was an extra expense to
be more rarely indulged in. I have also been
with Mr. Neville's staghounds in the Basingstoke
direction. The carted stag is not, of course, the
real sport of hunting a wild animal, but it ensures
a good gallop.
I remember once with these hounds we
crossed the track of the Vine (fox) Hounds running
a fox, and the stronger scent I suppose of our
quarry attracted several of them from their own
trail.
Admiral Sir George Westphal paid a visit to
my uncle at Portsmouth and related to us an
interesting story about Trafalgar. It was this :
121
MY NAVAL CAREER
He was a midshipman in the Victory, and soon
after Nelson was wounded, he (Westphal) was hit
in the head, carried below and put down near the
Admiral, who noticed him and asking who it was,
said, ' Put my coat under his head. ' This was
done, and as Westphal' s head was bleeding his
hair stuck to the bullion of the Admiral's epau-
lette, and to get the coat away they cut off some
of the bullion, which he, of course, kept.
He said to me, ' If you look carefully at
Nelson's coat in the Painted Hall at Greenwich
you will see that some of the bullion has been cut
off ' ; this I have done. I told this story to
Admiral Mahan, who regretted he had not known
it before he wrote the life of Nelson. I advise
young people, if they have the opportunity of
hearing from older ones interesting occurrences
in which the latter were concerned long ago, to
try and do so.
In April 1865 we had a visit at Portsmouth
from Garibaldi, and the enthusiasm with which
he was received in England was quite extra-
ordinary. He came dressed, as he is usually
represented, in a red flannel shirt, no coat, a soft
light-coloured hat, and light-coloured trousers.
He was a rather handsome and decidedly dignified
man, with a grave, but pleasant expression.
He lunched with the Admiral, and I after-
wards took him to Southsea to visit an old friend,
a Mrs. White. It was not easy to find her ; when
we did it was up a narrow cul de sac, so we got
out of the carriage and walked. I mention this
because I was struck by the effrontery of an
122
GARIBALDI— LADY SMITH— GENERAL TODLEBEN
Irishwoman who, amidst the cheers for Garibaldi
of the few spectators, put her head out of her
window, shook her fist and called out (not
a blessing) to the man that would! pull down the
Pope.
Among many guests staying in the Admiralty
House I remember Lady Smith, widow of the
General, Sir Harry Smith. Her name is immor-
talised by the famous Boer siege of the town
named after her, and defended by Sir George
White, Her meeting with her future husband
was romantic ; when Badajos was stormed and
about to be sacked, she, then a girl, found, and
threw herself by chance on the protection of,
Harry Smith, then a subaltern, who fell in love
with the charming young Spaniard, and after-
wards married her.
She often wore an order given her for being
under fire in India. Even when I knew her she
spoke with a very Spanish accent.
We also had a visit from the great General
Todleben, the practical defender of Sevastopol.
He was a tall, strong-built, soldierly looking man,
with good high-class Russian manners. He spoke
French and German, but not English, which he
said he meant to learn.
In 1865 I was lent to the Victoria and Albert
for her cruise to Kingston to convey H.R.H. the
Prince of Wales (our late lamented King Edward
VII) to open the Exhibition at Dublin. The
Irish showed immense enthusiasm, and apparent
loyalty, which I believe most of them really feel
at such a time. It is, however, but fair to say
123
MY NAVAL CAREER
that the presence and patronage of Royalty in
Ireland are not as encouraging to that country as
they are to Scotland.
The Royal yacht was the most agreeable
vessel I ever did duty on board. As regards
discipline, it seemed natural to all in her, and
not only were the men all of good character, but
the idea of dismissal from ' the yacht ' was
sufficient deterrent from misconduct.
While at Holyhead we visited the South
Stack lighthouse, where the sea-gulls are so tame
that the sitting hen only just moves off her nest
if required for a lighthouse-keeper to take an
egg from under her; no barndoor fowl seems
tamer.
In 1865 we had a grand official visit from the
French Fleet. It was many years since the last
one. Great preparations were made, and it all
went off very well. The Admiralty gave a great
ball in the Naval College in the dockyard. The
enclosed stone-paved courtyard in the half H
of the building was all floored over and made the
ballroom, the windows all round were taken out
and the rooms utilised as required. About 1640
people were counted into the place as guests, and
the entertainment lasted till nearly 6 a.m., as
I well remember.
But perhaps the most extensive fete of the
occasion was that given by the Municipality of
Portsmouth of the Governor's Green. It lasted
in all about twelve hours. Beginning at 3 p.m.
with a promenade concert and succeeded by a
banquet, it then gracefully shaded off into a
124
A GALE OF WIND
ball, towards the conclusion of which some of
the society of Portsmouth, who had somehow
not had invitations, graced the occasion with
their presence, and did not detract from the
conviviality !
Just before I left Portsmouth there came on
one Sunday morning a gale of wind, more nearly
approaching a hurricane in force than anything
I remember in England. Next day the streets
were strewn with tiles, chimney-pots, &c., and
many trees both there and in the country near
were blown down ; but what I want to mention
is that in the afternoon the harbour could not be
crossed.
A ship had gone ashore off Haslar and I was
anxious to get over to the wreck, but no water-
man would try it. I met the Commander of
Coastguard, Frederick Robinson, who wanted to
get there too, and had his service boat manned
and offered me a passage. But the moment we
were exposed to the wind blowing right into the
harbour the seas began to sweep over our boat,
and we only just succeeded in turning her round,
and by baling hard getting back before she was
quite swamped.
In March 1866 my uncle hauled down his
flag at Portsmouth, and I was given what was
called the ' haul-down promotion, ' and so made
a commander, and went on half-pay for the first
time.
125
CHAPTER XI
THE MAZINTHIEN
Wolfrock — Peterhead — Young Surgeons — Sailing North —
Whales — Seals — Walrus — ^Bears — Arctic Interests — Sir John
Frankli n — ^Festivity.
The summer of 1866 was my first real freedom
since I entered the Navy, and as such was greatly
appreciated by me. But at that date there were
comparatively few positions for commanders as
second in command, and those were usually
offered to officers who had been old first-lieu-
tenants of ships, and commanders were frequently
three years and over before they got separate
commands. I had thus the prospect of long
half -pay, and to consider how to occupy it.
During the summer being at Penzance I visited
the Wolfrock off the Land's End, where a light-
house was then being built by Mr. W. Douglas.
Probably none more difficult to build exists.
The rock is of killas or green stone, which is
very hard; it is oblong, the extreme size no by
140 feet at low water and then quite steep below.
We landed with difficulty in cork jackets by order,
as we might have to swim off. It took two years'
126
WOLFROCK LIGHTHOUSE— ABOARD A WHALER
work to prepare for laying the first stone of the
Wolf, and three years to place the three first
stones of the lowest course : while the present
Eddystone Lighthouse was built in that time.
It took about eight years to complete the
Wolfrock Lighthouse. The stones up to the
twentieth course, where the entrance door is, are
fastened together by cement, by metal bolts,
about two feet long, half being in each course of
stone, and by slate joggles, a foot long and six
inches square, placed with half of them in each
course. The Wolfrock light so far is a great
success. I published an account of my visit in
the Nautical Magazine for September 1866.
Towards the end of the year I soaked myself
in Arctic literature, and felt anxious to see those
regions, and if we had another Arctic expedition
to join in it. So early in 1867 I arranged to
go for a northern cruise in the whaling ship
Mazinthien of Peterhead.
This vessel was about 400 tons, a full-rigged
ship, but with an auxiliary screw able to drive her
about seven knots. Her name is from an Indian
chief, she having been built at Miramichi in
New Brunswick. She was, of course, immensely
strengthened to stand the ice. Her captain was
Mr. John Gray, a first-rate seaman, and of a
regular old whaling family, Peterhead being then,
and for several years before, a great whaling port.
Our total complement was fifty-five. She carried
two mates, a spectioneer, four harpooners, two
engineers, and various other odd ratings, besides
a surgeon ; but these latter in the whaling ships
127
MY NAVAL CAREER
were usually young medical students from Edin-
burgh, who having ' outrun the constable ' felt
safer at sea, and anxious not to revisit ' Auld
Reekie ' till they had a few ' bawbees ' in their
pockets.
One day when we were in the ice a man in
another ship had his leg so smashed that it had
to be amputated ; the various young ' Galens '
near were invited to assemble and consult, but
each was anxious that another should undertake
the operation. I was assured that it was at last
performed with a clasp knife and the carpenter's
saw : what became of the patient I do not know.
The year before the surgeon of our ship (the
same as in my year) took to his bed on going
south ; the Captain visited him and, after inquir-
ing for his symptoms and consulting the medical
book he had, gave as his diagnosis that the patient
had delirium tremens ; it was thought best to get
him out of his bed, when the unhappy man was
found to have been lying on a collection of empty
bottles which he secreted there till the ship's
southward route took her to dark nights, when
the bottles could be consigned to the deep. The
moral of this is, when in a whaler do not be ill
or have an accident !
On 19th March 1867 we left Peterhead and
began a very rough and most unpleasant voyage
to the North. The ship was very lively, and a
whaler is not built for comfort — the men's quarters
are indeed bad. They sleep in bunks, often two
men in one bunk ; cleanliness is not thought of,
nor perhaps what is said to be next to it. Our
128
BOUND FOR GREENLAND
only religious observance, if such it be, was that
every Friday we had salt fish for dinner.
The dirt of a whaler and her crew must almost
be seen to be believed ; as for the men, their faces
become like niggers, and washing at all with many
is relegated to a very dubious date.
Though the ship had steam power, it was kept
mostly to move her when beset by ice. Wind
binds the ice floes together, but when it is calm
they are much more easily pushed apart, and
channels made among them.
Our crew were not over-sober when we sailed,
and even the first mate was so overcome by his
feelings on discovering that his son and heir,
fourteen years old, had stowed himself away on
board that he required too much of the national
liquid to steady his nerves.
By the end of March we were among the ice
floes, and in the neighbourhood of Jan May en
Island. Our destination was what is called
' Greenland,' i.e. the sea between it and Spits-
bergen, in distinction from the course to the
westward of Greenland, to Baffin" Bay, and called
'Up the Straits.'
I may here remark that the whaling business
altered much as time went on. Those who have
read that most interesting book by Scoresby
on whaling voyages know that a hundred years
ago the right whale was far more plentiful than it
is now, and vessels could then anchor in, say,
Magdalena Bay in Spitsbergen, land their appa-
ratus'for boiling down the blubber, and with their
boats catch many whales in the offing. This is
129 «
MY NAVAL CAREER
now all over, and it seems possible that the right
whale will become extinct before very long.
My readers may know that there are many
kinds of whales, i.e. of sea warm-blooded mammals,
somewhat fishlike in shape, and having no hinder
limbs. These are divided into two general classes,
viz. the Baloena species for those that have whale-
bone instead of teeth, and the Delphinus species
that have teeth and no whalebone; of the latter
class the sperm whale or Macrocephalus is the
largest, and most valuable, and best known.
Of the former, first in value is the Balcena
mysticetus, called generally the ' right whale,'
because it is the one most wanted by the Northern
whalers. The Yankees call it the ' bowhead,'
because of the shape of its profile. ' Whalebone,'
I may be allowed to state, is a set of horny prongs
or spikes attached to both jaws; when the mouth
is shut they fit into each other, as the fingers of
two hands might, and having a thick hairy coating
to them, thus form a sort of sieve.
The right whales feed on medusae, which are
about the size of a grain of rice. Having found
a part of the sea where these abound, the whale
swims with his mouth open, and when he feels
there are many medusae inside it, he closes his
mouth ; and the above sieve, when he then
squirts the water out, retains the medusae, which
he swallows and thus feeds himself.
When the above so-called ' whalebone ' is
six feet long in the upper jaw, the whale is
called ' sized.' The oil is, of course, got from the
blubber, which may be considered the creature's
130
WHALES AND SEALS
great coat, as it keeps him warm. When I was
in the whaler, the oil was worth about £45 a ton,
and with the value of the whalebone ^ a very large
whale would be worth about £2000 in all. A
whale is, of course, not a fish, but the whalers
always call it so, and indeed to them ' a fish '
is nothing else.
The object of our voyage was to get both seals
and whales if possible. Many other ships were
bent on the same errand. In the Arctic re^ons
there are four species of sea seal, viz. the Phoca
hispida, or, as it is called, ' bladder nose,' from
a sort of appendage over the nose in the male only
which is inflatable ; these are the largest seals
there and grow to ten feet long. Next the
Phoca greenlandica or ' saddle-back,' so called
from the marking like a saddle on its back : they
grow to about seven or eight feet long. Next the
' floerat,' as called by the sealers ; these grow
to about three and a half feet long. Also a
ground or shallow water seal only found near the
land.
f The saddle-back is by far the most numerous
there ; and I have been in the * crow's nest ' at
the masthead with ice all round, and thickly
covered with the ' saddle-back ' seals. Thou-
sands and thousands of them — such a sight of
warm-blooded animal life as I think can be seen
nowhere else. These are the seals sought in the
Arctic regions; they are not fur seals at all, but
their skins make fine soft leather, and their
blubber yields oil worth about £40 a ton.
^ Used principally, I believe, for ladies* corsets.
131
MY NAVAL CAREER
Birds are of various types ; the mallemuck is
by far the most numerous, but rarely seen south
of 62° N. There are the lordly Burgomaster
gull, the graceful snow bird, the placid puffin,
the greedy mallemuck and the lively kittywake,
besides others.
In April the young seals are born on the ice,
and they and their mothers are killed and
skinned. It is a most pathetic scene, and painful
to witness. In about a month the young can
take to the water and shift for themselves ; the
mothers then leave them and go away with the
males who are waiting for them. The first is
called the ' young sealing ' ; now comes the
other, or ' old sealing, ' when you hunt the seals
up and shoot them as you can. About this there
is often real sport.
I have frequently noticed that if you approach
a seal right in front of him, he does not seem to
make you out nearly as quickly as if you are on
one side of him. Paley , in his ' Natural Theology/
at p. 16, says he believes that the seal has not
the ability to see an object with both eyes as if it
were only one object — is this true ?
Also I have noticed, when stalking sleeping
seals over the ice, if one scents you and raises
his head, the others do so too ; but if, when you
have lain down quietly, the first alarmed again
reposes himself, the others do the same.
A seal in motion is not very easy to kill. On
the ice it bobs up and down as it goes on, and
unless you hit it right through the head or heart,
it will probably escape. In the water you must,
132
KILLING A WALRUS
of course, wait till it shows its head, and then if
you kill it at once the head sinks under the water,
the air does not at once escape, and it may float
till picked up.
One day we saw a large walrus on the side
of an ice floe and a boat went after it. I was in
her with the second mate. In the bow was a
harpoon gun; I was anxious to fire it, but the
second mate said that he was more used to them,
and therefore the best hand at it. I was just
behind him with my rifle. The walrus was
asleep on ice some eight feet high, the lovely
snow bird and greedy mallemuck walking about
close to and fro, now and then arousing him with
their cries. At last he woke and reared up his
ponderous form. The second mate fired the gun
and both he and I at once disappeared in the
bottom of the boat. What had happened ? Is
the walrus on top of us? Happily no; but the
swivel of the gun has broken, and the second
mate, with a terrible gash on his face, and
the gun, are on top of me. I shake myself clear
and with my rifle finish off the walrus, who is
trying to capsize our boat. I have his head now.
Sometimes we saw polar bears, and chased
them over the ice ; it is wonderful how well, heavy
as they are, they can get over ice barely strong
enough for a man's weight. We got a few at
which I assisted. The polar bear Ursus mantimus
is so called because he is almost amphibious.
The Rev. J. G. Wood, in his book, ' Homes
without Hands,' Chapter I, says that the female
polar bear, when expecting to have cubs, first
133
MY NAVAL CAREER
eats enormously, and then towards December
scrapes a hole in the snow near a rock, lies down
and lets the snow cover her ; this forms a cell in
which she stays during her accouchement, and
suckles her cubs till March, when she emerges
with them. She usually has twins. Her breath
keeps open a hole in the snow which provides her
with air to breathe.
It was irresistible to wander over the ice floes
with a gun or rifle, but one should not go alone as
the ice is apt to be treacherous. Twice when
alone I nearly came to grief. The ice, newly
frozen, gave way and let me in, but I at once
threw myself forward and spread out my arms,
thus covering as much ice as possible. In this
way I struggled on to firm ice, and eventually
regained the ship, with both gun or rifle, but with
frozen clothes.
On one occasion when with others I regularly
fell in, and was hardly consoled by being told I
was now a ' Freeman of Greenland.' This occurred
owing to the ice having got rotten in the late
spring. At the * old sealing ' I usually went away
in a boat for several hours, regardless of time,
as the sun was always above the horizon. It was
a fine healthy life, and the fresh air of the best.
Accidents of course occur, through careless
shooting and nips of the ice, but one only wonders
the first are not more common.
The air is wonderfullv clear. I have seen
Mount Beerenberg, 6700 feet high, quite clearly
eighty miles off.
Life^in a whaling ship has many phases foreign
134
LIFE ON A WHALER
to the shore, and very different from a man-of-war.
I remember one afternoon, when we had been
unlucky in getting anything, the mate came into
the cabin to take off his sea boots and warm his
feet before the stove, on top of which, in a boiler,
was always kept a decoction of tea, well boiled,
and calculated to ruin the stomach and nerves
of anyone but a Caledonian sailor.
Enter the steward, by name Alexander, and
of course called ' Sandy,' in a great state of
excitement, because the captain had just well
abused him.
The mate said, ' Ah weel, Sandy, do ye ken
there was a man called Napoleon Bonaparte ? '
Sandy replied, ' Ah ken it.'
The mate rejoined, ' He was at St. Helena,
and one day going down the hill by a narrow
path overtook two ladies also descending, and
met an old man coming up and carrying a heavy
load. The ladies kept to the path ; but Napoleon
stepped on one side and said, '' Ladies, if you do
not respect the man, respect the burden."'
It is curious how many whalers take up a dog
or two. We had three large ones. Of these
one named * Teazer ' one day had a fit. I was
below when they called out to me, 'Teazer has
gone mad.' I ran on deck and saw he was in a fit.
The scene was amusing. Many of the men had
taken to the rigging, but the more courageous
were getting rifles to shoot the dog. I dragged
him right aft, and tied him up there, this being
the only condition on which they would spare his
life. In time he recovered.
135
MY NAVAL CAREER
During the cruise I had various occupations :
kept the log, took sights for the reckoning, went
aloft, often to the crow's nest (a cask secured to
the main-top-gallant mast) ; sometimes I conned
the ship, or took a trick at the helm and helped
in various jobs for many hours together. And I
was frequently away in the boats, working as
one of the crew, and shooting seals, a most healthy
outdoor life. When tacking the ship it was
often curious to see at the order ' Mainsail haul '
how a heavy shower of ice frozen on to the rigging
aloft came down on us on deck.
The tragic story of the expedition under Sir
John Franklin has always to me possessed great
interest. I only refer to it here because of what
the mate of the Mazinthien told me, which I will
preface by one or two remarks.
Arctic exploration has in my opinion ten
times the interest of Antarctic, for the following
reasons. When the first attempts were made
at the beginning of the sixteenth century, great
hopes were entertained that a practical short
passage for ships from Europe to China would be
found. Arctic voyagers, though they failed to
find that, found human beings (the Esquimaux)
and animals of many kinds and in profusion,
besides an intricacy of bays, creeks, and islands
to examine and chart.
In the Antarctic nothing comparable to the
above may be said to exist. Since Sir James
Ross in 1841 with H.M.S. Erebus and Terror
discovered Victoria Land and the mountains
named after his ships, it has been pretty apparent
136
ARCTIC EXPLORATION
that a lofty and large island, in fact a continent,
covered the area about the South Pole, and further
researches have shown that continent to be bare
of life, except as to some birds.
That the interests and attractions of the North
are not to be found in the South only, if anything,
adds to the heroic efforts that have been, and are
being, made to reach the South Pole ; but the
North to my mind must always have the greatest
interest.
I need hardly remind my readers that Sir John
Franklin in 1845 left England in the Erebus and
Terror to discover, and if possible pass through, a
north-west passage. In 1846 his ships were per-
manently beset by ice about 20 miles N.N.W. of
King William's Land, and all their crews perished
in endeavouring to escape by Back's fish river.
I know no more pathetic document than the
* record ' found by Lieutenant Hobson in 1859
at Point Victory in King William's Land, when
all that it conveys is well considered. Few words
seldom indicated more.
A quaint old whaling captain, by name Martin,
who was up in a whaler when I was, had in 1845
commanded a ship called the Enterprise, and our
mate, by name Aitkin, was then a boy on board
her. She met Sir John Franklin's ships in
Melville Bay, and all three vessels made fast to
the same iceberg to get fresh water from it.
Several of Sir John's officers came on board
the Enterprise to ask Captain Martin to dine
with Sir John that day and to take their mail
for England. Martin asked the officers down
^37
MY NAVAL CAREER
into his cabin, and, leaving his mate there to
entertain them, retreated to the crow's nest in
order to avoid society. And two hours before
the dinner time he suddenly cast off from the
berg, made sail, and stood away without giving
the members of Sir John FrankUn's expedition
their — as it proved — last chance, of sending
letters home.
In April we had one really bad night ; a gale
of wind from the south-east caught us just to
windward of the pack. In such a case there are
two options : one to burrow well into the pack if
you can, and get shelter from it, but you must go
a good way in ; the other to get away from the
ice altogether.
The first we could not do, so had to try the
second, which resulted in many collisions with
bits of ice, the loss of a boat, our figure-head, cut
water and head knee, and very nearly of the bow-
sprit. Nothing but a specially fortified ship
could have stood the ice blows that our poor
vessel got through that night.
A propos of Caledonian Sabbatarianism I see
in my journal that on Easter Day the crew
worked specially hard from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Indeed we may be said to have acted like the
West Coast of Africa palm-oil trader, who when
he got abreast of Cape Pa] mas, outward bound,
called the crew aft, produced a piece of board,
wrote 'Sunday' on it, then threw it overboard,
and said to his men : ' No more Sundays, boys,
till we pass here going North.'
Of course we never anchored, being in very
138
WHEN WHALING CAPTAINS MEET
deep wa:|.er, but when we found ourselves fast to
ice near another ship we sometimes exchanged
hospitality, which generally meant a long evening
of drinking, smoking, and yarning.
I remember specially one such symposium in
our ship — three or four whaling captains came ;
one was an elderly man, much given to drink,
and if the adage in vino Veritas is true, not a
pleasant master for his men. In a few hours he
got tipsy, abusive and quarrelsome, threw the
inkstand at me, and tried to follow it up with the
coal-scuttle.
Finally his spectioneer, who knew how to
manage him, was sent for, and having been got
back to his ship, he ascended to the crow's nest,
a first-rate place in which to cool his head.
On this occasion I was much struck with the
calm conduct of our captain (John Gray). It
is a very awkward position for one of your guests
to get riotously drunk at your table, and in these
days happily it rarely occurs.
But if it does, or did, you have to remember
the duties of hospitaUty, and that the inebriated
one is your guest. This our host did, and behaved
in a way worthy of anyone in rank from a prince
downwards.
Very few whales were got in * Greenland '
that season ; we saw some, and went away in the
boats after them, but had not the luck to get
fast to one at all. We neared in turn both
Greenland and Spitsbergen and went up to about
80° North.
I should like to tell various stories that I
139
MY NAVAL CAREER
heard, but I will relrain. By the way, why is
the word ' story ' of such ambiguous meaning,
and doubtfully veracious reputation ?
Finally we returned to our port, Peterhead,
and I took leave of as fine a set of honest, hardy
seamen as one would find. Our voyage, owing
to the large quantity of seals that we had got,
paid the owners very well.
140
CHAPTER XII
THE COASTGUARD
Queenstown — Coastguard Cutters — Plymouth .
One morning to my surprise I got an official
letter from the Admiralty appointing me addi-
tional to H.M.S. Frederick William at Foynes
in Ireland, for service in H.M. Coastguard.
As the Fenians were then in full swing and 1
was a loyal subject — now called a 'Unionist ' —
I hoped and thought it was to try and exterminate
James Stephens and his followers. However, I
found it was not so high an office, but simply an
ordinary berth as inspecting commander of the
Queenstown Division of Coastguard.
' Nowadays lieutenants and commanders going
into the Coastguard are expected only to retire
from such appointments which end their careers,
but then it was different, and many young com-
manders were put into it, till they could get to
sea.
I proceeded to Queenstown and took a cottage
on the other side of the harbour at a place called
Aghada near Rostellan Castle. A large Atlantic
steamer was wrecked on the coast in my division
141
MY NAVAL CAREER
just as I went there, and my wits were much
exercised to arrange the business, get through
the voluminous correspondence, and compound
with the hungry natives. But the saying that
' the mountains of the future become the mole-
hills of the past ' is often true.
The duties of an inspecting commander are,
or were, not too onerous. If he does his duty
they are sufficient to interest him, and fill up
enough of his time to make him the more enjoy
the remainder of it.
In those days many of the officers of stations,
and many of the men, were civilians who had
never been in the Navy, and some even had not
been to sea. The divisional officers were generally
commanders or lieutenants, but there were some
civilians. The station officers were a very mixed
lot, some lieutenants, or masters Royal Navy, some
civilians, who were gentlemen, and some warrant
officers of the Navy. Station appointments then
lasted till the officer was superannuated.
The duties, or work, differed very much^at
different stations. In some it was all patrolling
the coast by day and night ; in others boarding
duty by boat was included, and was in fact the
chief work.
The houses varied immensely; the divisional
officer practically always had to find'^his own
house, but all others had service accommodation.
When the houses had been built for the Coastguard
they were always good, but of the rest, hired
as they could be got, some were almost dis-
graceful. This has now been long ago remedied
142
COASTGUARD SERVICE
and the Admiralty Coastguard houses are a credit
to the service.
The Coastguard afloat consisted chiefly of
cutters of about 80 tons, and very good sea boats,
I had one, the Scout, attached to my division.
Her commander was of chief warrant officer's
rank.
He had on one occasion taken his wife to sea ;
they fell into a heavy gale of wind, and were
battened down for thirty-six hours. His wife
was more than half dead with sea-sickness and
fear ; however, she survived it, but in his account
of the affair he added, as a curious fact, that she
had never forgotten it.
Talking of sea-sickness, it has often occurred
that young seamen, drafted to serve for a time in
the Coastguard cutters, have been so sea-sick that
they have begged to be sent back to the regular
man-of-war. Of course most people know that
the quicker the motion of a vessel the more apt
people are to be ill, also that pitching is worse
than rolling, as regards the above malady ; be-
cause owing to the greater metacentric height for
fore and aft stability, the motion of pitching is
more violent and jerky than that of rolling.
Private life where I lived was very agreeable :
everyone knows the hospitality of the Irish. In
summer we played cricket and other games, and
in winter hunted to a moderate degree, and shot.
The forts about Queenstown Harbour were at
that time garrisoned by the Royal Marines in
the winter : because as that corps are only
recruited in England, and are supposed to have no
143
MY NAVAL CAREER
Irishmen in them, their loyalty, as regards any
tinge of Fenianism, could be better trusted than
that of a regiment of the line.
My object and wish in the Navy has always
been to serve actually at sea, in preference to
anything else, and indeed I cannot understand
anyone who voluntarily becomes a sailor doing
otherwise.
I must allow I enjoyed my time in Ireland,
but when I had been there rather over a year
I was moved to the Plymouth Division of Coast-
guard, the reason being curious, as follows.
At that time the leading feature in our Govern-
ment 's service was rigid economy, in which the
Admiralty set an example — noble or otherwise.
An officer I knew intimately, who was very well off
and anxious to get command of a ship as soon as
he could, he being a commander, was appointed
to a ship on a distant station before his turn,
because he offered to pay all his passage money
out there by mail steamer.
My case was a minor one ; it was desired to
reduce some of the Irish Divisions of Coastguard
from commander to lieutenants for economy,
and the offer of the Plymouth Division was made
to two officers in Ireland whose divisions they
wished to reduce. Both refused to go unless
ordered, but if ordered the Admiralty would have
to bear certain expenses. They then thought of
me, though mine was not wished to be^a'^reduced
division, and the matter was so put to my friends
that I said I would go voluntarily, and went.
The pay of commanders in the Coastguard I
144
COASTGUARD OFFICERS' EMOLUMENTS
considered quite enough : besides the pay ot this
rank, they had lodging allowance ; what was
called ^ moving duty ' allowance ; and an allow-
ance to keep two horses, concerning which they
were only obliged to keep actually one. The
idea of this, of course, was that at any moment
they could have the horse saddled and rush off
to any part of their coast in case of emergency.
The horses were, of course, very convenient
for hunting also ! In the Plymouth Division I
lived in Durnford Street, nearly opposite the
Royal Marine Barracks ; I had also a 15-ton
cutter provided by the service as my yacht ; and
what may seem more strange still, a mounted
orderly provided by the service to escort me as I
pleased. My man had been a trooper in a Dragoon
regiment. It was, of course, a relic of the days
when fights with smugglers occurred, and the
of&cer had some one to help protect him.
I was not long at Plymouth, when I was
appointed to commission the Growler at that port
for the West Coast of Africa.
145
CHAPTER XIII
H.M.S. GROWLER
* Bugtrap * — Sierra Leone — Kroomen — ^A Wreck — Bight of Benin
— Dogs — Fernando Po — African Kings — Rivers — Slavers —
Fight with Congo Pirates — Ascension Island.
The Growler was a new ship, one of a strange
class, inasmuch as they were built to use up a
large stock of gunboat engines. To do this
two sizes of ships were designed, all to have twin
screws, the first so fitted in the Navy, I believe.
The larger class had two sets of 80 horse-power
engines, the smaller class two of 60 horse-power.
My ship was one of the smaller, the sort of vessel
dignified by the name of a * bugtrap.' However,
I was very glad to get her and go to sea, even to
the hated West Coast of Africa, whose dry and
thirst-promoting climate has proved a snare to
too many sailors, and justified Virgil's 'At nos
hinc alii sitientes ibimus Afros.'
The Growler was barque rigged; her good
points were that she was extremely handy under
steam, not a bad sea boat, and good for rivers,
drawing only nine feet of water. But though
you could tack and wear her, as I often did,
Neptune himself could not have made her work
decently to windward, under sail only.
146
KROOMEN
We fitted out at Devonport and left in the
month of July for our station. We called at
Sierra Leone to embark our Kroomen. I should
explain that these are negroes from the Kroo
country, who enter on board our ships on the
West Coast of Africa, only for service in them on
that station. In the Growler we had about ten,
of fine physique, impervious to the rays of the
sun, or the bite of the lady mosquito, who, however,
had not then been diagnosed as the conveyer of
fever. They slept and lived on the upper deck.
I may here remark that in the Growler, as was
often the case in small craft, we had no mess
tables for the men, which gave more room on
the small lower decks.
WhUe at Sierra Leone a man came on board
to say his ship had gone ashore some twenty miles
south of the port and would he feared become a
total wreck, but would I see if I could salve her ?
My orders did not admit of much delay, and
after hearing his description I quite discouraged
all hopes. However, I sailed one evening and
thought I would have a look at her. By the
light of a fine moon we found her, but saw she
was a hopeless wreck, and only likely to be pillaged
entirely by the natives.
When one is young one acts a good deal on
impulse, and I allowed my First-lieutenant and
warrant of&cer to ' salve ' some very useful
spars, canvas and other things. You should
never neglect the gifts that Providence places
before you, but ' take the goods the gods provide
thee,' unless, of course, actually prevented by your
147 ^ 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
conscience, or the policeman, but neither in this
case interfered.
A man-of-war, at the time I speak of, had
perhaps all that was necessary to carry out her
intended service, but the official establishment
often left a good deal to be desired, and every
sailor loves to see his ship look well.
I had painted the Growler yellow with a red
streak, boats to match ; in those days all common
men-of-war were black, never white or grey.
I now gave her a long mizzen topmast, and jib
and flying jibboom, and immensely improved her
appearance.
I must say I felt a little anxious lest our
salvage operations should be misconstrued by
some narrow-minded people ; but it was not so.
We now began our coast service mostly in
the Bight of Benin, where ' Tom Cringle ' says
that ' one comes out where a dozen go in ' ; but
this happily is far too pessimistic a statement.
' The Coast,' as par excellence it used to
be called, was of course hot, but its worst fault
almost was its dreariness, and that bred many
rows and serious troubles. I entered the rivers
whenever I could, and my ship's shallow draft
permitted it. Besides the service reasons for
doing so, it was very interesting, and I thought
it better to get the African fever than to die
of monotony off the coast. It is no use disguising
the fact that intemperance has been the bane of
West Africa Coast service in the Navy, and
many officers, who elsewhere might have done
well, have been ruined by drink ; the craving for
148
BIGHT OF BENIN
it is much induced by the monotony and tedious-
ness of the life, lying, or quietly cruising, off that
coast.
My ship carried very few officers, of whom
only two executive ones were reliable. One was
my First-lieutenant, whom I lost in a curious way.
We were at great-gun target practice, and as it
went on I noticed that he seemed to have more
difficulty in hearing my orders to him.
An hour or two after the firing was over, the
Surgeon reported that the First-lieutenant was
perfectly deaf. He remained so for several weeks,
stone deaf, and had to be invalided home.
Running into the Channel in the winter the
captain of the mail steamer had occasion to fire
a pistol. This the deaf patient heard, and his
hearing came back by degrees ; but he was ad-
vised to retire lest the same thing should recur,
and he did so.
I had a retriever on board who presented us
with puppies — one was named after the ship, and
should have been a cat, so charmed did his life
appear. Lying in the Brass River one night, with
the stream running four knots, ' Growler ' fell over-
board; it was quite dark and nothing could be
done. We gave him up, but next day I heard
much excitement going on, and they reported
that ' Growler ' had come on board. What almost
must have happened was that the dog had been
carried down towards the sea, but swimming in
one direction had landed on the last point inside
the bar, crawled to a native village, been taken
in, and brought up to the settlement. I could
149
MY NAVAL CAREER
relate at least two other of his wonderful escapes,
but will forbear.
I was often at Fernando Po in the Bight
of Biafra; it is one of the most beautiful and
luxuriant islands in the world. On account of
the first it was at one time called by the Spaniards
' Formosa/ As to the latter nearly any tropical
thing will grow there. I have carefully measured
cotton trees quite 200 feet high. The native
inhabitants are called ' Boobies/ and are I think
about the lowest race I personally know. The
females used often to be without any clothing,
a thing most rare with any savages.
The peak is 10,093 feet high ; it rose so steeply
from the sea near the anchorage that it is almost
like looking at Nelson's column from the Union
Club. The island is very unhealthy for Euro-
peans; the Spanish, nine years before my visit,
sent out a volunteer colony, to have free grants
of land, but soon the survivors begged to be
taken back, to starve in Spain for preference.
The British Consul when I was there was
Charles Livingstone, brother of the great doctor,
with whom he had often been in Africa and of
whom he talked much. He said that when his
brother was seized by a lion, though really much
hurt, an extraordinary fascination of the beast
seemed to possess him, and to deaden the pain.
Consul Livingstone made several official trips
in my ship, living of course with me, and we had
interesting visits to rivers, and ' palavers,' so
called, with the native kings. The Consul had
the African fever engrained in his constitution,
150
AFRICAN * KINGS'
and when with me was often down with it, and
thoroughly sick and wretched in my tiny cabin.
Africa's toll of the white man is heavy !
The African ' Kings ' are often amusing. I
remember one, ' King Dido ' by name, who after
freely partaking of refreshment in my cabin,
could hardly be got to leave till he understood
that I would write to Queen Victoria — who he
thought used to drink rum and water in my cabin
too — to send him out a breech-loading rifle just
like mine.
When the Consul remonstrated with the King
of Brass, which is just to the eastward of the
Niger, on his people pillaging a British merchant
vessel which had run ashore there, instead of
helping her to get off, and told him that in Eng-
land, on the contrary, we were always most kind
to shipwrecked people and tried to save stranded
ships, and when this had been conveyed to H.M,
by the interpreter, the King after a little time
replied : ' That be good law for you, but mine
be best law for me here,' and no doubt from his
point of view it was so.
The title King may serve to designate these
noble potentates as well as any other, but it is
usually ridiculous when the monarch himself
appears. Often previous to a visit to you by
the King, he sends in advance a messenger with
his stick of state, a highly carved staff, which is,
of course, taken away after the visit. I have
received on board a ' King ' dressed only in the
full-dress tailcoat of a naval officer, a red hand-
kerchief round his middle, a tall black hat on his
151
MY NAVAL CAREER
head and nothing else — all these worn with an
air of perfect gravity, A few of these kings send
their sons to England for education, but the
return to their native surroundings can hardly
be satisfactory.
The traders up the rivers often live afloat
m hulks, or if on shore their goods are often kept
in hulks for safety. A fire-ship can hardly be
more inflammable than these vessels are.
Imagine an old wooden ship well baked by
the tropical sun, her cargo, rum, palm-oil, and
gunpowder, and when she catches fire, as occurs
at times, the only thing to do is to desert her.
I entered all the rivers I could find excuse to,
and was surprised to find how ill surveyed some
of them were. The Old Calabar was the worst
I found. Having the Admiralty chart, I did not
take a pilot — it is about ninety miles from the bar
up to the settlement. When we had got about
thirty miles the chart became quite useless.
I afterwards made a running survey of the
river. The chart was as if one man had begun
at the settlement, and another at the bar, each
had worked about thirty miles on different scales,
and an inventive genius had then inserted the
middle part from his inner consciousness. The
result may be imagined !
At Old Calabar meat was sold with some of
the animals' hair on to show it had had four legs,
and not only two !
The Bonny River, when I was on the coast,
was the scene of much disturbance. Two kings,
named respectively J a- J a and George Peppel,
152
DISTURBANCES ON THE BONNY RIVER
quarrelled ; the latter was helped by a powerful
trader, called Oko Jumbo, and a fight was arranged.
They collected cannon of various calibre and date,
and placed them in positions some quarter of a
mile apart, with houses dotted here and there
between, and opened fire ; how many were killed I
do not know, but on arrival soon after the action
I found Peppel and Oko Jumbo triumphant,
and Ja-Ja defeated and fled.
Subsequently, after I had left the station,
Ja-Ja was made prisoner by us and deported to
the West Indies. The sequel I happen to know.
Being at Grenada some years after I saw the
captive, who soon after that was released by our
Government, and put on board a corvette for
passage back to his country. The vessel, however,
went no farther than Teneriffe, and landed him
there.
Our Consul at Santa Cruz — Captain Harford —
one of the kindest of men, did all he could to
console Ja-Ja, and assure him he would be sent
on to Bonny. But in vain, the ex-King gave
himself up to despair, 'turned his face to the
wall ' and died. I think our Government felt
all had not been as it should, and they ordered
that the body should be taken up, embalmed
and sent to Bonny. It was not a pleasant job,
but some Spanish doctors were got to do it,
and sent in a very long bill which our Treasury at
first demurred to paying ; the doctors pointed out
the grand points in the matter, one that it was
the body of a monarch, and the other that the
party to pay was the British nation, who
153
MY NAVAL CAREER
eventually cashed up. All this the Consul at
Santa Cruz told me.
Sometimes we went up the rivers to shoot
crocodiles; the niggers always called them alli-
gators, but the latter I believe only exist in the
Americas.
A crocodile asleep on the bank looks just like
a tree covered with mud. So much so that the
first I saw deceived both me and my companion,
though warned beforehand, till the niggers saw
it and cried out ' Hi ha, aUigator.' They are very
hard to kill, unless hit in the eye, or one or two
other places.
I have no doubt cannibalism still goes on near
the West African Coast in places; it certainly
did when I was there. I was told by an English
trader, that up the New Calabar River he came
on some natives just after a fight cooking some of
their vanquished foes for dinner.
As regards slave ships, they were all but over
when I was there, but the middle passage was
still a possibility. Of course we all had * slave
papers,' i.e. authority to act ; without which
interference was illegal.
At that time the French only half agreed to
give us powers over their ships ; you might board
them, and ask to see their papers, but if the
' Conge ' and ' Acte de Francisation ' were produced,
and seemed bon& fide, you had no authority to do
any more, whatever your ground for suspicion.
On one occasion, ' from information received,*
as the police say, which seemed trustworthy, that
a certain French ship was about to take in slaves
154
IN PURSUIT OF PIRATES
at a place named, I went there and found the
vessel, boarded her, and saw her papers, which
seemed right. However, I told them my sus-
picions, and said I should watch her, unless they
let me search the ship, which they did, and I let
her go.
A vessel about to take slaves would have her
decks, water tanks, or casks, and probably slave-
irons, in readiness.
Everyone knows how badly off Africa is for
harbours. I visited St. Paul de Loando, which is
about the best on that coast. In its neighbour-
hood were the best specimens I had ever seen of the
Baobab tree, or Anansonia digit ata, so named
from its shape — a gigantic carrot, but protruding
more from the ground in proportion, with im-
mense spreading boughs may be taken as a rough
resemblance.
Consul Livingstone told me he had seen some
that could shelter a whole regiment. In the
Canary Islands I have seen trees much like them ;
they are often of very great age, but have no
actual beauty. The Consul used to praise very
much the inner and higher parts of Africa where
he had been with his brother.
We went to Lobito or Benguela in 12^ 30'
S., where you can pick oysters off the mangrove
trees ! — off the roots of course.
Soon after I proceeded to the River Congo,
where numbers of pirates were about, and it was
much desired, if possible, to recapture a negro
chief called Manoel Vacca, who had been our
prisoner formerly, but was now released.
153
MY NAVAL CAREER
To catch him was not easy ; the Portuguese are
great traders there and own slaves. One Portu-
guese merchant said to me, ' I think I know
how you could catch Manoel Vacca. Ask him to
come and see you, and promise you will let him
go free. I think he will believe it and come,
and then of course you can keep him/ It shows
a very curious morality and sense of honour.
Perverted diplomacy shall we call it ?
My time on the coast was shortened by the
following affair. Arrived at the River Congo I
heard that an English merchant vessel in that
river had just been seized by Congo pirates.
On mj7 anchoring off Banana creek one morning
five men of the schooner Loango came on board to
say that she had been boarded by pirates the day
before higher up the river. It appeared that they
had escaped, leaving the captain and a boy on
board. At once I was off and in a couple of hours
sighted the schooner, manned and armed boats
and boarded her ; the pirates who could escaped
up the creeks near, but I got one and kept him as
a guide. The vessel had a regular West African
cargo, viz. rum, gunpowder, and sundries. It
was extraordinary how much they had cleared her
out in twenty hours.
The job now was to find the captain and boy,
if alive. From my prisoner, with threats and an
interpreter, I got some hints where to go, to
surprise in his lair King Mpinge Nebacca (pro-
nounced by Jack 'pinch of tobacco '), who was
the chief pirate known there then.
From Seiior Oleviera, a Portuguese merchant
156
MPINGE NEBACCA'S VILLAGE
slave dealer and owner, I borrowed a slave as
guide. Next morning we were off before daylight
in three boats, and landed in a mangrove swamp
at low-water ; here owing to difficulty of language
mistakes were made, but finally we got to shore.
If anyone wants to know what it is like to be
really muddy, induce them to land in a mangrove
swamp at low-water. I find this description of it
in a letter of mine : ' You writhe like a snake
among the roots, then climb over them like a
monkey, or again wade deeply through the mud
like a man shrimping.'
Speed was now necessary to try and surprise
the natives ; we ran as hard as we could along the
narrow paths, and through pools of water often
three feet deep, about three miles, arriving at
last at the village of Mpinge Nebacca. The
niggers did not stay to fight, but fled into the bush
and opened a very desultory fire from there with
small-arms. This town was so hidden in the
forest that without a guide I should never have
found it, and probably no white man was ever
there before. Like rabbits the inhabitants j umped
up and fl'^^d ; had they only stockaded and defended
the path we came by, we should have had much
trouble.
I wanted, of course, prisoners for information,
so I ran on till I got hold of a young negro about
nineteen years old, secured him, and handed him
over to one of my men who then came up, and I
went on into the bush after the others.
The chase was amusing ; it was through grass
and reeds some Mght feet high in places. Their
X57
MY NAVAL CAREER
advantage was custom and want of clothing,
mine a path partly cleared by them. I had my
sword in my hand, and could at times have run
one of them through; but to kill was not my
object, and besides, you cannot kill a person from
behind — at least not usually.
At last one of the fugitives fell down, so near
me that I was able to fling myself on top of him.
We rolled over in the grass, my captive's only
garment came off, and I found in Vmy arms a
young woman !
I was of course all the more glad I had not
at all hurt my ' chase/ but a woman can talk as
well as a man. Some say better, or faster. So I
gave her in charge to my coxswain, and took her
on board. Meanwhile one of my officers found
the captain of the schooner aUve but badly
wounded, and too stupefied to be any use. The
town was full of plunder from the Loango, so their
guilt was clear ; they had several hundred kegs of
gunpowder, which I blew up, and many other
things. The town was burnt, and with difficulty we
carried off the captain, and took my two prisoners.
How many men were killed I cannot say ; but
it is a well-known fact that the British sailor or
marine, and I believe soldier, is not very squeamish
about taking life when once he is thoroughly
excited.
The day was one of temptation to the thirsty
* Tar ' or ' Jolly/ as it was very hot and much
trade rum was about in the village. As we were
returning I heard a marine artillery gunner say,
* I've killed two and murdered two more,' and
WOUNDED IN THE LEG
had I not been commanding officer I should have
liked to ask where he drew the line. >>
I have often been amused by people saying, ■
or pretending, that the gentle Britisher is far more
humane than the other European warriors. In
my opinion and experience, under similar circum-
stances, there is not very much to choose between I
them. This I know is heresy ! But they are [
the ' proper fighting beast,' as Barry Lyndon ';
says — when excited.
Our day's work was not over, and we went in
the boats to another very narrow creek, which with
difficulty we got up, landed, and found another
village and more gunpowder. But the natives
were prepared, and having retreated to the bush,
kept up a loose sort of fire, and no prisoners could
be got.
My slave amused me — he would not land here,
but lay down in the bottom of the boat to avoid
the shot, so Exeter Hall may rejoice to think that
even a slave feels his life well worth preserving.
Having destroyed this village we returned to
the boats, as no more could then be done. As we
descended the creek I was shot through the leg,
and was glad it did not happen sooner. I may say
that the wound at the moment felt exactly as if
some one had hit me very hard there with a big
stick. I believe this is frequently, if not generally,
the case. And I have been told that a sword cut
is like a very severe slash with a whip, but that I
have not had the pleasure of feeling.
We returned to the ship. I kept my slave for
several days — he was most useful to me — but at
MY NAVAL CAREER
last, in spite of Exeter Hall and his being in
British territory, viz. a man-of-war, I felt I must
in common honesty return him to his Portuguese
master.
Had I been a rich man I might have offered
to buy him and bring him to England, but I have
no doubt he was really much happier in Sefior
Oleviera's plantation, and under his native skies.
He used to sit up all night with me if required,
and often his cool grasp of my hot and aching
foot was a great comfort. A negro's 'skin is
naturally cool, and though you may say, then it
is like a snake,' yet it has its advantages in
fervent climes.
The boy still remained to be recovered. I found
out about where he was and sent word that all the
villages there would be destroyed if he was not at
once brought back. This succeeded and we got
him, but he had been very badly wounded.
My lady prisoner cried and howled near me
all night, but when I had got the boy back I
returned her. My other prisoner proved to be
the son of the noted pirate chief — Manoel Vacca —
mentioned above, and named Movica, so he was
a great catch, as hostage for his father.
I now had a dreary time of it. My wound
proved serious ; my surgeon was an able and kind
man, but took to drink and was unable to come
and dress my wound or attend properly to others
wanting him. No other doctor existed within
more than a hundred miles at least. However,
our medical officer's career was not much pro-
longed in the service afterwards.
i6o
THE 'ROLLERS' AT ST. HELENA
I have little more coast work to relate ; though
quite laid up, and in much discomfort or pain,
with the above drawback, and short of officers,
I did not like to leave my station.
After several weeks the Commodore i arrived
in the Rattlesnake, and was most kind, and ordered
my ship to Ascension Island. Never was I more
glad to arrive anywhere; to quit a small, hot
cabin, to be free of the responsibility of the ship,
under the existing circumstances, and to have
good medical attendance, was indeed a delightful
change, and I have always blessed Ascension.
I have previously mentioned the island when
here in the Pi^'w^ ; it is about the size of St. Helena.
Everyone did all they could for me. A com-
mander — Kirby — governed the island ; with a
lieutenant under him, two medical officers for
the hospital, a Captain of Marines, and some
accountant and warrant officers.
A curious sea phenomenon here is ' the
rollers,' i.e. the sea suddenly and for no apparent
cause rising in a sort of ground swell, and its
waves violently breaking on the shore, and
coming higher than usual as they do so. I
believe the cause is thought to be volcanic sub-
marine action. Concerning this a very tragic
event had just occurred there. The Captain of
Marines and his wife had two young children ;
their nurse took them one day to the beach, when
the elder waded in a little way, as children often
do. Suddenly the rollers set in, and carried the
child off its feet, the nurse dropped the younger
^ Now Admiral Sir William Dowell, G.C.B.
l6l M
MY NAVAL CAREER
one which was in her arms, and rushed in to try
and save the first one. She was washed away,
and the baby also. The sea, and the sharks
which abound there, completed the catastrophe.
I used to see at Ascension my captive Movica,
' the quivered Chief of Congo,' as Campbell
sings ; he was fond of coming up to me, and I
felt compassion for him in his exile, but what
became of him I do not know : as I was but
hobbling on crutches I was at his advantage
when we met.
While I was at Ascension a mishap occurred
to the Flora which might have been most serious.
She was a frigate like the Pique, but unrigged, and
so helpless. She lay always as depot ship here.
One night late, the watch on board her luckily
looked and thought that the lights of the garrison
got fainter, and soon decided that they were
becoming more distant.
The Lieutenant of the island happened to be
on board her that night ; he was called, ran on
deck, and gave the order to let go the anchor.
This was done, and brought the ship up, but
only just in time before she got off the bank, into
deep water.
Had THAT occurred, the ship with many
invalids on board, but short of provisions and
water, would have been blown away by the
south-east trade wind, helpless, and there was no
seaworthy craft to send to look for her.
What had happened was that the ship's bow
long rising and falling with the swell had caused
the ring connecting the cable from her to the
162
INVALIDED HOME
moorings below to hammer constantly on a rock,
tiU it became disconnected. Had the Florals
being adrift been discovered, say, half an hour later,
the results to those on board would have been
most serious.
I cannot pretend that I left the West Coast of
Africa with any regret. It was our most un-
healthy and most monotonous station. This
latter has, through inducing officers to drink,
ruined more careers than any other station has
done.
This is all over now, but was well known when
I was young, and * the coast ' was looked on
nearly as ' black list.' There I had seen the
worst phase of our Navy, and not in my case
redeemed by a good set of officers.
In a very few weeks the Commodore arrived,
a medical survey was ordered on me, and they
resolved I must be invalided home, whether I
liked it or not. The Roman, a Cape mail
steamer, called in, and I was ordered passage in
her. She was an old vessel, with a single screw,
of course ; at sea we broke one of our cranks,
but at last crawled into Madeira, repaired damages
and finally reached Southampton. She brought
home the headquarters of the Cape Mounted
Rifles, which had just then been disbanded.
I went to London, and was officially medically
surveyed and pronounced unfit for service for a
year on account of my wound. At this moment
the war broke out between the French and Prus-
sians in 1870, and, of course, absorbed all our
attention.
163 i««
CHAPTER XIV
COMMANDER— H.M.S. L/F^LY— CAPTAIN
Lausanne — ^H.M.S. Vigilant — ^H.M.S. Lively — ^North. of Spain
Channel Fleet — Story of H.M.S. Amazon — Promotion —
Long Half Pay — Officers' Lists — Greenwich R.N. College —
France — Italy.
Next spring, though I could not serve, I went
to Lausanne in Switzerland to improve my
French, and lodged with a M. Borel and his
family. Among the few pensionnaires were a
Prussian named Von Arnim and a German from
another province, both also learning French. We
there used to row on the lake together and the
war produced many arguments.
In the pension was also a beautiful young
Danish girl, who matched Sir Walter Scott's
description of the ' Danish maid,' with form as
fair as Denmark's pine, &c. Von Arnim fell a
victim to her charms, and I chaffed him about
Denmark's revenge over Prussia.
An interned French soldier was being ques-
tioned about the war, and his interlocutor said
to him: ' Mais vous g^ez manque de tout n'est
pas, meme des tentes.' The soldier replied : ' Ce
164
H.M.s. vigilant: and lively
n'etait pas une question de tente (tante), mais
nous avons manque de Toncle/
I was suddenly called home by a severe
domestic affliction. In spite of efforts to be
certified as fit to serve, I could not advance the
period; but at length I was appointed to the
command of H.M.S. Vigilant,
This vessel was at Devonport ; she was quite
new and was a paddle-wheel despatch vessel.
Her armament was quite insignificant. Soon
after she had been fitted out I broke my right arm
out hunting, and had to go to the naval hospital
at Stonehouse: this was my third sojourn as
patient in a naval hospital, and, as far as I am con-
cerned, my personal experience is all in their favour.
While I was in the hospital my ship had a bad
accident, and it was decided to pay her off and
turn us over to the Lively. This vessel was also
new, and nearly a sister to the Vigilant, but she
had better engines, viz. Penn's oscillating cylin-
ders, than which none in the Navy were better for
paddle-wheel ships. She could steam 15 knots, a
speed then extraordinary in the Navy.
We went to the north-east of Spain to protect
British interests in the Carlist disturbances —
hardly a war — then going on. I got into the
River Nervion and as near as I could to Bilbao,
where are the famous Somorostro iron mines.
The country is very varied and picturesque.
At San Sebastian we lay in the harbour called
' La Concha,' and while there I visited the famous
monastery in Aspeitia founded by the Jesuits and
built of black marble, but never completed. It
165
MY NAVAL CAREER
was curious to see so grand a building in so secluded
a spot.
San Sebastian is pleasant as a place, and
interesting from its history, its capture by us in
1813 not being its only attraction. I visited the
graves of some of our countrymen killed in the
Carlist War in 1836, under Sir de Lacy Evans, and
remember one with this inscription :
' To the memory of poor Cotirt who fell under his
colours at the battle of Aeta. Beauty and
friendship truly mourn him.'
From Santander I paid my first visit to Madrid,
and things having quieted down, and complete
indulto proclaimed, I was ordered to join the
Channel Fleet under Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby.
We have had few, if any, better handlers of
a squadron at sea than the above officer, and
though he had not had the good fortune to see
war service, I am sure that during the latter years
of his active service life, the Navy generally, had
we become engaged in a serious naval war, would
have wished to see him in command of our principal
fleet.
A sailor's life so frequently calls for sudden
action in emergency, for coolness and decision at
critical times, and for the evident power both to
command and to lead men, that the good officer
can be judged quite well without the mere going
under fire.
Our first service was a popular visit to the
home ports, of Ireland, and the West of England
and Scotland, Liverpool and the Clyde, &c.
166
WITH THE CHANNEL FLEET
These cruises do not improve efficiency, but are
no doubt of much value in helping to popularise
the Navy ; besides which it is only fair that the
public should have a chance of seeing what they
pay for. The hospitality shown us was un-
bounded, indeed you required to be young to
keep up with the luncheons, dinners, and dances,
besides your own work.
At Devonport I always (by order) went in and
out of the Hamoaze without either pilot or har-
bour master. One summer morning I arrived
very early at Poitsmouth and went straight in,
but could see no buoy, wharf, or berth, to take up.
A signal of inquiry to the flagship only got the
answer, ' Anchor as convenient,' no authority being
out of bed. Seeing only the Royal Yacht's buoy
vacant, I thought it good enough for me, but to
my surprise on steering for it ran on shore. How-
ever, no harm was done.
This may sound odd, but charts of Portsmouth
Harbour were not allowed to us.
In the autumn I had a collision outside the
Needles, on my way to Portsmouth. It was a
very dark night, and I was going fast ; suddenly
a schooner loomed out on my starboard bow, cross-
ing my track. She could not be avoided, though
we, of course, tried ; her jib-boom passed close over
our heads on the bridge as we ducked down, and
the smash then came.
Her figurehead was found lying on our quarter-
deck — it was that of a woman — and the First-lieu-
tenant rushing on deck in the dark mistook it at
first for a dead body. I was told afterwards it was
167
MY NAVAL CAREER
an effigy of the owner's daughter, who was married
that day. A very odd chance, and an ill omen.
For the winter the Channel Fleet was abroad,
which is in all service views the best thing to do
with them ; and no officer who has the service
at heart would wish, unless necessary for the
protection of the country, to remain in England
between the months of October and May.
All exercises, drills, &c., are better carried out
farther south with longer days and milder weather,
besides the question of having your men on
board ; also it is best for health.
Before I entered the service Lisbon was a
frequent haunt for our Channel Fleet, but for
many years now it has been much less so. The
strong current in the Tagus is the great drawback
to it as an anchorage, and even when moored ships
have been known to drag.
When I was in the Lively we were there at
various times. There were then regular roulette
tables at which the public could play, known by
the name of ' Pero Grande.' It was supposed
to be ' taboo, ' and was so officially, but such re-
strictions are hard to enforce. The opera was,
of course, a great attraction to us.
Talking of the opera at Lisbon I will venture
to relate a story in which it is just mentioned
because my great-uncle Richard Seymour, then
First-lieutenant of the Amazon y figures in it. The
Amazon was with Nelson's Fleet off Toulon, when
the Admiral in order to get his despatches to
England sent that ship with them to Lisbon,
choosing her partly to give her a chance of prize-
i68
AN ANECDOTE OF NELSON'S FLEET
money. Sir John Orde was blockading Cadiz ; he
was no friend of Nelson's, but his senior officer ;
and Nelson told Parker in a private note to avoid
Sir John's Fleet if he could. This Parker tried to
do, going through the Straits of Gibraltar in the
night and hugging the African shore. However,
he was caught by Captain Blackwood in the
Euryalus, one of Orde's cruisers. Blackwood
came on board and gave Parker orders from Orde
to join his Flag. Parker showed Nelson's note,
and said : ' I believe you are under obligations to
his Lordship, do you not think it would have been
better if you had not seen me to-night ? ' Black-
wood said ' Yes, ' and acted accordingly.
The Amazon arrived at Lisbon and gave the
despatches to the packet for England. Parker's
First-lieutenant then said to him : ' It would be a
great treat to the of&cers who have not been at a
civilised place for a long time to have a run on shore
and go to the opera.' But Parker said : ' No, our
best chance of prize-money is to go to sea at once
and cruise for a day or two off this coast.' They
went out, and next day at daylight sighted a
vessel which proved to be a Spaniard with
treasure on board, and a prize.
Parker's share was ;;f 20,000. When he rejoined
Nelson, the latter asked what he had done, and
hearing the above, remarked : ' Well, I'm glad
you've got some prize-money, but I wish it had
been only £10,000, because now I suppose you will
get lazy and only want to be on shore and spend
it.' My great-uncle was killed on board the
Amazon when she captured the Belle Poule.
169
MY NAVAL CAREER
We were at Gibraltar in February 1873, when
we heard that King Amadeus was driven from his
throne in Madrid, and had retired to Lisbon.
Recently the opposite might have occurred.
' Hodie mihi eras tibi.' In consequence a few
ships, mine for one, were ordered to Lisbon to
offer the ex-King conduct to Italy, w^hich he
declined ; and it only gave us a reception and
banquet by the King of Portugal in his palace.
While at Gibraltar I was at times over at
Tangier, where was Sir John Drummond Hay,
then Consul-General in Morocco, and soon to be
Minister there. He almost ruled over the im-
mediate neighbourhood. He was equally able
and agreeable, and used to take us out wild-boar
shooting. The position had been a * family living,'
and he showed me the mark on the wall in his
drawing-room, where a round shot came through
when the French under the Prince de Joinville
bombarded Tangier in 1844. His mother was
in the room at the time.
Some of us used to make short trips of two or
three days to see places of interest as the service
permitted, and I was thus staying at Cintra when
I got a telegram to say I was promoted to the
rank of captain. Captain Dowell (mentioned
before) was one of our party, and justly remarked
that I had now entered on quite a different phase
of the service, having got on to a purely seniority
list.
In some foreign navies they have seniority to
the rank of captain and then selection to the
flag list. I have always thought this quite wrong,
170
PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN
and ours much the best plan. We select, and thus
eliminate, officers, till they get to the very im-
portant rank of captain ; which rank has then a
stability and added grandeur that it could not
have were it still a struggle for the next step.
This I say; but always, of course, bearing in
mind that no officer can force the Admiralty to
employ him ; and that besides age, periods of
non-employment condemn an officer to retirement.
I could say much more about this, but will not here.
In a few weeks my successor arrived, and I
left my ship and the Channel Fleet with real
regret, hardly effaced by promotion. The Coast
of Africa had disgusted me with the service, but
the Channel Fleet restored my love for it.
In the year 1873, when I was made a captain,
and for several years before and afterwards,
officers of that rank were almost always on half-pay
for five years before they got a ship, unless they
happened to go as flag-captains, and flag-cap-
tains were usually men who had been commanders
of large ships.
It is no doubt bad for the service to have
officers five years unemployed, but it mattered
less then than it would now when things change
rapidly, and ships get out of fashion nearly as
quickly as ladies' hats.
I am all for officers of the rank of captain, and
higher ranks, being at times on half-pay and thus
able to travel, mix with the world and general
society, get their minds enlarged, and learn that
the quarter-deck is not the world.
171
MY NAVAL CAREER
At present officers are in my opinion too short
a time in the rank of captain, and therefore
unable even to get enough of the very valuable
experience to be learned in that most important
rank. Indeed it has lately happened that officers
had to be promoted to rear-admiral without having
served the regulation time at sea. This is all
wrong, but not easy at once to remedy, unless by
enlarging the captains' list, which would mean
reducing for a time the lists below it ; and
these lists also are no larger than is required
for the large Fleet we feel necessary to keep in
commission.
The lieutenants' list is now some 1900 in
number, whereas forty years ago it was only 660 ;
it is, however, none too numerous, partly because
we must have more large ships and swarms of
small craft in commission, and partly because
the battle-ships' quarters are so distributed and
divided off, that many more officers than formerly
are required to command them.
In 1847, when of course no retired list existed,
there were 2448 lieutenants on the so-called
' active list,' but the commission of the senior one
was of December 1796 (over fifty years), and nearly
1600 were of about twenty years' seniority. A
frigate seventy years ago had usually only three
lieutenants and a master — just enough in fact
to keep the watches ; and I believe that till thirty
years ago only three-deckers ever carried eight
lieutenants, a number often both borne and
wanted in ships now.
Mr. Childers, when First Lord, had brought
172
ROY.AJL NAVAL COLLEGE, GREENWICH
in the age retirement scheme, and done much
to clear the lists. In 1873 Mr. Goschen, then
First Lord, completed the above by a temporary
offer of retirement on a very liberal scale. So
much so that I felt I could never in future com-
plain of my pay, because I had not taken that
retirement.
But all this is a digression, and to return to
my humble self, I had probably five years' half-
pay to look forward to. The Royal Naval
College at Greenwich had been opened the pre-
vious summer, so I applied to go there as a student.
Its first President was the late Admiral Sir
Cooper Key, than whom no better could have
been selected. His abilities, scientific knowledge,
judgment, and encouraging manner with those
under him, showed him to be the very man for
the appointment. I joined the Greenwich College
in the autumn of 1873, when the first real ' session, '
so called, began, and remained there till its end
the next autumn. All students above the rank of
lieutenant were on half-pay, and we all, I think,
felt it was a great privilege to us to be allowed there
on such terms ; though the further boon of fuU
pay has since been granted.
The winter of 1874 I spent at Cannes with
my father and sisters, and I certainly prefer the
Riviera as it was then to what it is now, when over-
building and crowds of motors have quite changed
the place, and the dust of the latter nearly chokes
you and obscures the view.
In the spring we travelled in Italy, but as I do
not presume to think my private movements and
173
MY NAVAL CAREER
doings will interest anyone who may honour me by
reading my memoirs, I shall as a rule touch but
casually on them.
In 1875 it was decided to send out an Arctic
expedition to try and reach the North Pole, and
Captain George Nares was appointed to command
it. My secondary object in 1867 in going to the
Arctic regions in a whaler was to be qualified for
a Government expedition if one were sent. I
therefore, of course, offered my services on this
occasion, and should have got command of the
second ship [The Discovery) were it not that the
naval medical authorities were the same men
who had surveyed me after my wound in Africa,
and would not now pass me for the expedition.
As is well known the command of the second ship
was then given to my friend Captain Henry
Stephenson. 1
Some months after I happened to visit Birken-
head to stay with my friend Captain Meyer, R.N.,
and seeing there H.M.S. Orontes, a troopship, pre-
paring for re-commission, the idea occurred to me
that, though I could not yet get a corvette, the
Admiralty might be induced to give me command
of the above ship. I therefore made the request,
and as their Lordships, especially Admiral Sir
Alexander Milne, then First Sea Lord, were very
kind to me, on account of the above Arctic busi-
ness, they made an exception in my favour and
appointed me to the ship.
The trooping service had long been at times
* Now Admiral Sir Henry Stephenson, Gentleman Usher of
the Black Rod.
APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF A TROOPSHIP
conducted by the Navy. Everyone remembers
the loss of the Birkenhead in 1852. Under the
master hand of Admiral Sir William Mends the
Troop Service was reformed, and became worthy
of its very important duties.
It might, and I hope did, help to make our
two sister services allied, and pleasantly known
to each other, but after all it is not the proper
duty of the Navy. It has been quite rightly
given up by them, and I think its dissolution is
regretted by neither sailor nor soldier.
For a naval officer it was a curious experience.
It greatly enlarged my knowledge of that seemingly
volatile, yet really constant, element called
' Human Nature,' and in the knowledge of which
I should think a man who has spent his life as
officer and captain of a mail steamer must be a
past master.
The Orontes had just been lengthened by
fifty feet amidships, and was a very efficient
vessel. She was built of iron, and had just
been fitted with compound engines, then only first
coming into the Navy.
175
CHAPTER XV
H.M.S. ORONTES
Lord Lytton — Bombay — Irish Militia — Ceylon — Singapore —
Mauritius — Natal — The Cape — South African Ports — Bad
Harbours — ^Wreck of Eurydice — Occupation of Cyprus —
A Derelict — Bermuda — Halifax — Barbados — Trinidad —
Jamaica — Thunderer Explosion.
At Portsmouth in March 1876 I commissioned the
above ship, as what was called ' an Imperial troop-
ship' — in distinction from the four Indian troop-
ships, which were exclusively for that work;
while our sort were for service everywhere as
required.
Our first job was to go to Bombay, taking out
odds and ends, and conveying Lord Lytton, who
was going to be Governor- General of India, accom-
panied by his wife, family, and suite. In the
above society our voyage out was very pleasant.
The Lyttons crossed the isthmus by train, vi&
Cairo, and while my ship was detained at Ismailia
I made acquaintance with the great Ferdinand de
Lesseps, who asked me to breakfast. He was
then to me the courteous hospitable French gentle-
man, very different from what he was to us when
176
» TOWERS OP SILENCE* AT BOMBAY
I was there in 1882. But he had very much to
try him then.
At Suez, by arrangement, we met H.R.H. the
Prince of Wales (our late King) on his way home
in the Serapis. At Aden Lord Lytton landed in
state, it being the first point reached of his new
dominions. Everyone turned out to see the pro-
cession through the town, such as it is. Aden is
to my mind like a cross between Gibraltar and
Ascension Island. It is hot, healthy and dull, and
Europeans often get fat there ; yet I have known
people who liked it.
On 7th April we reached Bombay, and Lord
Lytton landed with great ceremony.
I think the ' towers of silence ' the most curious
things at Bombay. They are of stone, round in
shape, about 25 feet high and 160 in diameter,
with one small door about 4 feet square for
entrance. Inside is a flat stone floor marked in
four circles. The outer is for the men, the next
for the women, inside that for the children, and
in the centre is a deep well into which the bones
are thrown after they have been well picked and
cleaned by the numerous vultures that are kept
to devour the corpses. It is a gruesome sight, and
the vultures look worthy of their ghastly occupa-
tion. In readiness for the vultures the corpses
are placed on their backs in their respective circles,
and divested of their clothes.
While at Bombay I dined with a Parsee
gentleman; no ladies appeared till after dinner,
when we were taken into a room where we found
them with bowls of scented water, and garlands of
177 N
MY NAVAL CAREER
flowers, with which last we were copiously adorned,
and we then left for our boats to go off. But we
endeavoured to hide our floral decorations from
the anxious gaze of our boats' crews. The Parsees
are a much respected sect ; they worship, I believe,
both the sun and the moon. In their temples a
sacred flame is always kept alight.
On i8th April we left for England with about a
thousand troops on board, and arrived at Ports-
mouth on 22nd May. My homeward journey
showed me that Indian life is apt to be demoralising
both physically and morally to the English of both
sexes. This statement will no doubt meet with
contradiction, but, be it as it may, I have no
doubt that modern times are an improvement on
former ones.
I was told by Maj or P of the 92nd Regiment
that the widows of privates married ' on the
strength ' are often engaged to a would-be husband,
while the first is only very ill.
Military married officers were not allowed to
bring their wives for passage if an addition to the
family was likely to occur en voyage. When off
the Ashrafi lighthouse on our way home, the wife
of an officer of the Bengal Staff Corps presented
him with a daughter. He came to apologise to me
for this escapade, excusing it on the plea of its
being the first child. I accepted the excuse, and
only suggested that Ashrafi would be a pretty and
appropriate name for the little girl.
During the summer we were employed on what
was called ' coastwise service,' i.e. about the
British Isles.
178
CONVOYING IRISH MILITIA REGIMENTS
In July we brought two Irish MiUtia regiments,
viz. the Armagh and the Monaghan, over to
England for the manoeuvres. The Armagh Militia
own a very interesting trophy of which they are
very proud, viz. a French regimental colour of
the 2nd Battalion of the 70th Regiment of the Hne,
taken by the Armagh Militia in 1798 at the Battle
of Ballinbrack, when the French invaded Ireland.
The flag is white, with a gold border ; in the centre
is a red cap of liberty, and inscribed on the colours
is ' Discipline et soumission aux lois milit aires.'
Colonel W. Cross of the Armagh regiment told me
that this flag is always kept by the Colonel for
the time being in his private house, and that one
day being in Paris and at the Invalides, a French-
man pointed out to him a British flag there that
had been captured from us. The Colonel put his
eyeglass up and regarding the flag with great interest
said, ' Yes, I see it, and I keep one of yours
captured by us in my own house.'
On 8th August while off the coast of Wales, with
troops on board, and steaming at our best speed, the
low-pressure piston suddenly smashed, and having
only one screw we were helpless as to steam.
However we were barque rigged, so I handled the
ship under sail till next day, when we got into
Holyhead, landed our troops and were towed
to Birkenhead for repairs, by Messrs. Laird & Co.,
who had both built and lengthened the ship.
The West float of Birkenhead was then rather a sad
sight, being crammed with vessels, chiefly steamers,
unable to find employment. The old Great Britain
was there.
179 N2
MY NAVAL CAREER
Our repairs were completed about the end of
October, when we went to Portsmouth. While
there the Arctic expedition under Captain Nares
returned ; they had done what they could by that
route, and Commander Albert Markham had
attained the then highest latitude.
Our next trip was to Singapore with the 74th
Highlanders. On 12th November we went to
Portsmouth, and calling at Belfast reached Malta
on the 29th. On the 30th, St. Andrew's Day, I dined
with the 42nd Highlanders, the ' Black Watch,' at
Florian barracks, a good old-fashioned Scotch
festival dinner, such a sight as is, I fancy, quite ob-
solete now, to the detriment of wine merchants.
I have known nearly every Scotch regiment
in the Army, some very well. I am not at all
prejudiced in their favour, having I believe no
Scotch blood in my body, but I have always liked
the Scotch regiments, and never known one with a
bad tone in it.
We passed the Suez Canal in 53 hours and
20 minutes, say 2J- days, being about eighteen
hours under way at an average speed of 4*8 knots.
I only mention this for comparison with the present
faster time. At that date the British shipping
passing the canal was seven-tenths of the whole
world's traffic through it ; the charges on tonnage
dues (for which every ship was given a special
certificate in England or her own country) were
10 francs a ton, Suez Canal measurement ; and
pilotage dues were 20 francs per decimetre of draft
of water. Passenger dues were 10 francs each for
all over twelve years old, and 5 francs for those under
180
SUEZ CANAL— CEYLON— STRAITS SETTLEMENTS
it, but above three years old. The total for the
Orontes passage on this occasion was about £1416.
The bitter lakes between Lake Timsah and
Suez were evidently the sea once, and on drying up
such a deposit of salt was left behind that they
have become salter and denser than the ocean, to
such an extent that our Indian troopships while
passing through them drew four inches less water
than they did in ordinary sea water.
Our next port was Trincomalee in Ceylon, than
which perhaps no tropical island is more beautiful,
and more than that cannot be said of any place.
The above port is our naval station in the island,
but now much discarded.
The Admiral's house here is, or was, a most
delightful one. While in the harbour a military
ofhcer got a sunstroke in an odd way ; he went to
sleep one afternoon in the saloon, quite shaded ; the
ship swung and the sun shone on him with the
above result.
Sober Island in the harbour is a grand place
for picnics, that not seldom made the name a
satire ; and it has a charming bathing place,
thought safe till a few years ago when an officer
was there seized by a shark.
Our next port was Penang, the word meaning
' betel nut,' of which many trees abound. From
here we went to the Binding Islands in the Straits
of Malacca. These islands are rarely visited by
troopships, but the close of the Para war took us
there, and from thence we went to Singapore via
Malacca. The Governor here, Captain E. Shaw,
R.N., had been one of my first shipmates, and
181
MY NAVAL CAREER
with his advice I got several Malacca canes.
They grow like ivy twisted round trees and are
straightened artificially. The less ' rib ' the better
the cane and more valued; when cut and dry
they are naturally a light colour, but are darkened
for the market by smoking them over a fire into
which tobacco juice is put. Captain Shaw told me
he took some first-rate canes to a man in London
to mount, who tried to make him admire others
mth large ribs, which were of really much less
value.
At Singapore I visited our Government Prison.
It contained about 600 prisoners, 30 being
European and the rest Asiatics, of whom five-sixths
were Chinese. Corporal punishment for offences in
the prison is given — I happened to see it done — with
a rattan about half an inch thick on the bare skin
— a most severe punishment, marking men for life.
Flogging in our Navy, of which I have seen much,
is child's play in comparison.
We embarked the ist Battalion of the loth
Regiment for England, having other drafts also,
making 1030 troops.
I paid a visit to the (now late) Maharajah
of Johore, who was a perfect specimen of the
high-bred Asiatic. Here I ate my first durian, a
fruit equally praised and abused. Wallace calls
it ' the king of fruits,' but it is no doubt an
acquired taste. Its smell is unpleasant, its inside
pulp, which is what you eat, and has been rather fitly
compared by its lovers to a mixture of sherry,
custard, and onions.
From Singapore we went to Mauritius, but as
182
IN THE WAKE OF A CYCLONE
measles broke out on the way we were kept in
quarantine and could not land — a great disappoint-
ment. I arrived off the harbour Port Louis early
one morning, and seeing no sign of a pilot went in.
On hearing we had the measles the horror expressed
by the health authorities was amusing; several
newspapers — in French — were sent to me calling
me long bad words which I had to look out in the
dictionary !
It is, of course, a cyclone region, but they are
now so well understood that steamers in the open
ocean should be able to keep pretty clear of them.
I felt sure I was following one, as proved to be the
case. A man assured me that stone that was in
a cemetery on a pedestal six feet high was blown
in a cyclone a distance of seventy yards in all,
crossing a ditch at least two feet wide.
We next went to Natal, anchoring off Durban
to land some of the 8oth Regiment in quarantine
under a high cliff. This is a real bad anchorage,
both because it is unsheltered and because the
bottom is rocky. No end of lost anchors and
cables are there. From Natal we went to East
London, where there is no pretence of shelter,
and then to Simon's Bay. Here, for the first time
since Singapore and the only time till we got home,
we had pratique.
We called next at St. Helena, which island like
several others was discovered by the Portuguese,
taken from them by the Dutch, and from the
latter by us. Here we were in quarantine, and a
Captain of Artillery, bringing off some passengers
for England, himself insisted on coming up the
. 183
MY NAVAL CAREER
ship's side to the gangway, with the result that the
island would not have him back, so he came to
England.
We then called at Ascension, and from there
came home, and landed our regiment, which had
been on board the ship for three and a half months,
a most unusual and unheard-of thing in these
days.
In June 1877 I had another South African trip.
We embarked the 88th Connaught Rangers at
Kingston, and lying there was Lord Clanmonis's
yacht with H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught on
board.
I dined there on a Saturday night, and the
Duke said he would come to church on board
the next day and see the troops. The Colonel,
when I told him, said: 'Oh, they are nearly all
Roman Catholics, and cannot be forced to come,
and are supposed not to by their Church, but I 11
tell them the Duke is coming.' He did, and they
all came as if they had been zealous Protestants,
and they were none the worse for it.
The Connaught Rangers had with them a
curious trophy ; it was called ' Jingling Johnny ' and
was made of brass. It is a pyramid in shape,
but round, not square, all open work ; about six
feet high and covered with bells that rang as it was
moved. It was carried at the head of the regiment
with the band. The 88th had captured it in the
Peninsular War from a French regiment that had
taken it in Egypt where it originated.
On our way to the Cape we called at St. Vincent
in the Cape Verde Islands for coal, also at Ascension
184
ST. HELENA AND CAPE TOWN
and St. Helena. At this last were two tortoises
about 2h feet long which are known to be over
100 years, and some say 200 years, old.
On one occasion here I was coming down
Ladder Hill, which was a flight of 708 broad
wooden steps ; the effect on one's legs of running as
fast as possible down it was said to be curious,
so I tried it with two other officers, and afterwards
for two or three days our knees gave way whenever
we tried to go down any stairs, though we were all
right walking on the level.
At Cape Town I stayed with that charming,
and able, and ill-used man. Sir Bartle Frere, and
with him made a short trip up country. We
now had a very rough experience trooping to
East London and Durban in the winter months
down there. I lost two of my three anchors and
had to put to sea when bad weather came on to
save the other one. At East London the troops
were landed and embarked in large decked
lighters, the passengers all below, battened down
and in the dark ; the crew on deck to warp her
over the bar, with seas sometimes sweeping over
her.
Imagine the experience to a young married
woman, wife of either officer or private, put into
the hold of a lighter, and battened down in the
dark. Soon she rolls and pitches violently and
the passengers play at nine-pins with each other
as they tumble about. At last comes quietude,
then a bump against the jetty ; off hatches, and
there bursts on their astonished gaze the truculent
Zulu, or the hardy Kafir, or quaintly formed
185
MY NAVAL CAREER
Hottentot, alike guiltless of much drapery, and
forming a picture startling to the fair exile.
I went in on deck to see it, and came out in
the lifeboat as no ordinary boat could look at it.
But all is now, I am told, changed by the building
of breakwaters. A rocky bottom is the worst
for anchoring; one of my anchors was broken
in half in its shank on weighing, because it
was (unknown to us of course) jammed under
a rock.
I spent twenty-four hours in a strong north-
west gale off Cape Agulhas on this voyage, which
quite resembled the gale I was also in there in
1858 in H.M.S. Pique, and it was curious to see
how much less serious such a thing was to the
modern ship, both larger and a steamer, than to
the old sailing frigate.
In an excellent little book on seamanship by
Captain Liardet, written more than half a century
ago, he tells you not to disbelieve old sailors' stories
of fearful storms seemingly much worse than
anything known now, and that in fact it only
means they seemed so, because ships were smaller
and in many ways more helpless.
We took home the 32nd Regiment, commanded
by Col. Hon. R. de Montmorency, a pleasant com-
panion, and a keen soldier, with his regiment in
very good order. At Ascension Island I visited
what is called 'Wide-awake fair,' it then being its
season, which is when myriads of sea birds
called ' Wide-awakes ' come for their nesting
season ; their noise is surprising, and thousands of
eggs are taken and preserved for eating. Ascension
186
VISIT TO THE WRECK OF THE EURTDICE
turtle are some of the best in the world. The
females only land for a few weeks ending in June,
to lay their eggs, and then re-enter the sea. They
lay from 230 to 250 eggs at a time, and bury them
in the sand ; in about five weeks the sun hatches
them, when they at once take to the sea, and the
males, I believe, never land again. It is supposed
that they take seven years to grow up, and live
probably for half a century or more.
After arriving in England, my ship was em-
ployed on home service till June 1878, when we
went to Malta to join in the occupation of Cyprus.
This memoir is not meant to describe my life
and doings on shore in England, as however in-
teresting to me I cannot suppose they are so to the
public, and my life was probably like most others
of my age and position.
While at Portsmouth I used when able to visit
the wreck of the Eurydice 1 off Dunnose, where the
operation of raising the ship was going on. Her
Captain, Marcus Hare, was an old messmate of
mine in the Chesapeake in China, a good sailor, and
a careful officer, one of the last I should have
expected such a mishap to befall.
It occurred about four o'clock on a Sunday
afternoon ; she was a 26-gun sailing frigate con-
verted into a training ship for young seamen,
and was on her way home from the West Indies.
Some years after when on half-pay I took a
passage home in a New Zealand frozen-meat ship,
and her captain told me he was mate of a sailing
ship running up Channel with the Eurydice in
^ Lost on the 24th March 1878, and only two seamen saved.
187
MY NAVAL CAREER
company. That off St. Catherine Point the latter
ship hauled her wind for Spithead and thus
closed the land. That his ship running for the
Thames was off shore and saw the fatal squall
coming down over the high cliffs near Dunnose,
and shortened sail as quickly as possible, while
the Eurydice not seeing the squall so soon on
account of the land carried on her sail. My
informant said the squall soon hid the frigate and
they wondered what became of her.
What happened we know: the squall struck
her and she did not capsize, but sailed to the
bottom ! Her main deck ports were open, she
heeled over a good deal and water came in, especi-
ally at the lee bridle port, her bow depressed more
and more and she dived to the bottom — one proof
of this is that her fore foot was knocked off by the
force with which it struck the ground, and her
top-gallant masts remained out of water.
To the modern eye she would have looked too
heavily rigged, but her spars were the same size
as when she was a new ship ; but what was
changed was, that much of her standing rigging
was of wire instead of hemp. This perhaps greatly
caused the mischief — the wire held on and the
upper masts did not give way, as has often in
former times happened on such occasions.
The so-called ' salving ' of the Eurydice, that
is raising her wreck, took many months and cost
much money. To have blown her hull to pieces
where she lay would, of course, have been the
practical thing to do ; but probably sentiment, on
account of the great number of human bodies
i88
THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS
inside her, forbade this. Finally she was raised,
and beached in St. Helens Roads near Bembridge,
and afterwards put into dock at Portsmouth, and
broken up. As the Master-attendant of that yard
said to me : ' We have learnt one thing by the
above, and that is that it does not pay to raise
a ship.' 'A sea change,' indeed, but not 'into
something rich and strange.' I think Ariel
cannot have visited the ' half-regained ' Eurydice
at St. Helens.
I visited her at St. Helens, a gruesome sight
below, and better not described. It was curious
how, though she lay in what seemed clear water,
the insides of her most tightly closed drawers and
lockers had much black mud in them.
About this time our Government decided to
occupy the Island of Cyprus, with what special
object I cannot say ; perhaps in memory of its
long departed importance. But whenever I con-
sider the matter I am reminded of the delightful
picture of 'The Dog in the Manger,' by Mr.
Walter Hunt, in the Tate Gallery, as it seems to
me easier to guess what other nation might like to
possess the island than to see what actual great
value it is to us. I am, however, far from con-
demning the policy that induced us to occupy it
even for reasons germane to the above, and indeed
I know personally another island smaller than
Cyprus and nearer to England which I think might
well have remained ours for not unlike reasons.
We next went to the Mediterranean ; on nth
July arrived at Malta and began embarking Indian
troops and horses for Cyprus. This bringing of our
189
MY NAVAL CAREER
Indian troops to European Vaters gave rise to the
music-hall ditty,
We don't want to fight, and by jingo if we do
We won't go ourselves but we'll send the mild Hindoo.
Sir Garnet Wolseley came out to command the
Army, and Lord John Hay, Admiral of the Channel
Fleet, commanded the squadron at Cyprus.
The general ignorance in England about Cyprus
was I believe great, as Punch said there was a
general idea that from the reign of Venus it passed
to the Venetians, when Othello as Governor
smothered Desdemona, and that was about all.
Indeed the great Lord Beaconsfield, in spite of
Admiralty surveys, I believe said that they hoped
a good harbour in Cyprus might yet be found,
much as they might hope to dig up a statue of
Venus.
As Macaulay says, every schoolboy knows
that in Cyprus Richard Coeur de Lion married the
Princess Berengaria of Navarre. No doubt many
Crusaders have been there, and at our occupation
many pieces of old armour were found, which had
probably been worn in the Holy Land. Some
young men from England in search of El Dorado
arrived at Larnaka soon after we did, but I
fear regained their native land richer only in
experience.
In fact a good harbour is the chief want in
Cyprus. The best natural anchorage is perhaps
Larnaka, where the ships anchored, and the
troops were landed. The old port is Farmagousta,
which possessed a shelter for Venetian galleys and
190
SIR GARNET WOLSELEY
like craft, but to make real shelter there for
modern ships would be a costly business.
On 22nd July Sir Garnet Wolseley was sworn
in as Lord High Commissioner of the island, with
addresses in Greek, English, and Turkish, and a
salute of 21 guns to our flag. The landing was
excellently arranged, conducted, and completed,
and it was rather curious that this, the most per-
manent and important result of the war between
Russia and Turkey, as regards the Mediterranean,
was conducted as to the Navy by Lord John Hay,
then commanding the Channel Fleet; the Medi-
terranean Admiral, Sir Geoffrey Hornby, being
up the Sea of Marmora, and near Constantinople.
I would back Cyprus for dry thirsty heat against
most places, and within a few weeks of our landing
it proved unhealthy to many soldiers. When we
were there the thermometer ranged from about
117° in a tent by day to 60° at night. A
cool night's rest is, of course, a great thing, but
the above changes in camp life under canvas often
produce severe chills and illness.
The island generally lacks trees, which I believe
were far more plentiful till the Turks cut too many
down. The sea water well off shore was 83° and so
clear you could see your anchor and cable in 13
fathoms.
On 28th July we left for Malta and thence to
England. I had orders to find and tow home a
refractory transport called the Maraval. She
was a sailing ship, no more wanted, but in pay
till she got to her home port. The surface current
in the Straits of Gibraltar runs always into the
191
MY NAVAL CAREER
Mediterranean, and to get out with westerly winds
is rather difficult. Twice the above ship had been
towed out by tugs, and twice returned to eastward
of the Rock, apparently quite happy thus to ' do
time/ I found her, put men on board, and towed
her as required.
In September I again went out to Cyprus,
arriving in October. I rode up to Nicosia, the
capital, and stayed with Sir Garnet Wolseley at
his headquarters near there, about twenty-six
miles in all. Sir Garnet and his staff formed a
most agreeable society and one at once felt at
home with them. I think no one who has ever
really known the present Viscount Wolseley will
differ from me in my opinion of his charm of
manner.
A Cyprus mule, however, is a beast indeed to
ride on, no paces, and the saddle a veritable
' little ease ' ; the animal has an armour belt round
it and is further protected with cloths, rendering
it impervious either to whip or spur, of which fact
it seems by its paces to be perfectly cognisant.
After being roasted all day, one cannot heap
too many blankets on oneself at night in a tent.
Lord Gifford of the staff kindly lent me his
horse, a very good one, to ride back on, a favour
I have never forgotten. The two great curses of
Cyprus have been drought and swarms of locusts.
It is curious to see a cloud of these insects in the
air before they decide to alight, as they do in a
numerous compact army. Some say the island's
name is from kupros — copper — which was got
here. The importance of Cyprus in olden days
192
TOWING A WATER-LOGGED CRAFT
seems hard to realise now. A Turkish prisoner
from the battle of Lepanto (1571) comparing the
loss of Cyprus to the Venetians, and the above
defeat as concerned the Sultan, said, ' The latter
is to the Sultan but as the loss of his beard which
will grow again, the former is to Venice as the
loss of an arm which can never be recovered/
However, Bacon was right when he said that
' Lepanto arrested the greatness of the Turk/
At Larnaka in October we embarked the loist
Regiment for passage to Halifax. This regiment
since their arrival in Cyprus had become very
sickly, and it was advisable to move them to a
more healthy place. They were commanded by
Colonel de la Fosse, who was one of the only
three survivors of the massacre of Cawnpore. I
became very good friends with him, but as his
officers told me, he would never talk about Cawn-
pore, so painful was the impression of it left on
his mind.
On our way across the Atlantic we sighted a
deserted water-logged vessel, which I closed and
boarded. She proved to be the Fix, a brigantine
loaded with paraffin oil. No boats left, and no
record was to be found on board. I never heard
what became of her crew. I took her in tow with
much trouble, but bad weather coming on next
day had to abandon her. It was my only experi-
ence of towing a water-logged ship, with the
sea at times washing over her, and no means of
steering her. These derelict vessels are, of course,
dangers to others on dark nights, and had I been
in an ordinary man-of-war I might have stayed
193 ° .
MY NAVAL CAREER
and tried to destroy her. Her cargo, of course,
kept her afloat.
We called at Bermuda, or rather the Bermudas,
for there are said to be three hundred of them;
there are nine chief ones, most of the rest being
mere rocks. The anchorage is good, well sheltered
and safe, except in hurricanes which come at
times and of which they say : ' August prepare,
September beware, October all over.'
The islands are very fertile ; the natural rock
is so porous that a strong dock cannot be made
of it. This is why we had to send out a floating
dock to take our ships for repairs ; when I was there
they were repairing and cleaning the dock, and
in doing so took 170 tons of iron rust out of it.
A new one has since gone out there. There are
caves with the sea water so clear — though there
was good light — that you did not notice water
was there, and I have been deceived and walked
right into it.
It is said that a solid space of 6 miles by 4
would contain all the Bermudas, equalling about
15,000 acres in extent. There is a small island
or rock off Ireland Island (which has the dock-
yard on it), and on this small rock is a cross cut,
one arm of which is supposed to point to a treasure
hidden by the Spanish in 1620, but no one knows
which arm it is !
The Bermudas must always possess a charm
as the islands ' where Ariel has warbled and
Waller has strayed,' and their soft climate cer-
tainly lends itself to such roaming ' along that
wild and lonely shore,' as the poet warns ' sweet
194
TRANSPORT DUTIES
Nea ' not to indulge in. The channel to enter
by is long and winding and is thus a great defence,
but the long-range modern guns would deal havoc
from outside.
At Halifax we landed the loist Regiment and
embarked the ist Battalion of the 20th Regiment,
for Cyprus. On my way I passed through the
Azores Islands — the name means Isle of Hawks.
They are mostly volcanic, and are said to have
had no animal life on them when discovered
in the fifteenth century. Eruptions and earth-
quakes still sometimes occur.
At Cyprus we landed the 20th, and embarked
the 71st Highland Light Infantry, a regiment I
had long known and much liked. I landed them
at Gibraltar, and we lay there some days.
I have hunted at various times with the
Calpe hounds — in those days always managed
by military officers quartered at the Rock. It
is said those hounds were first instituted by naval
men. The country is so hilly and covered with
rocks, cistus and other bushes that it looks at
first unrideable at high speed.
We embarked the ist Battalion of the 4th
Regiment for the West Indies, and went first
to Barbados. This is probably the healthiest
of the West India Islands, but by no means the
most beautiful — far from it. The rainfall of the
year is usually sixty inches, but I am assured that
twenty inches have fallen in twenty-four hours.
We went next to Trinidad off the mouth of
the Orinoco River. The Governor's house at Port
of Spain is in the most beautiful tropical garden ;
195 '^^
MY NAVAL CAREER
coffee, tea, and cocoa grow in it. Here one
thinks of Columbus the Discoverer, and of Raleigh's
last sad expedition to the Orinoco. The pitch
lake of Trinidad is much noted ; it covers ninety-
nine acres.
From Trinidad we went to Port Royal,
Jamaica, and landed the headquarters of the
regiment, detachments being left at the other
islands. The great earthquake that sank old
Port Royal under the sea was in 1692. In many
cases the earth then opened and people were
swallowed in the crevices of it.
Jamaica is nearly all hills and valleys. When
Queen Isabella asked Columbus what the island
was like, he is said to have crumpled up a bit
of paper in his hand, put the paper on the table
and said, ' Your Majesty, Jamaica is like that.'
The chief military quarters are at Up Park Camp,
near Port Royal; but there are barracks in the
Blue Mountains which are healthy and have a
splendid view.
From Jamaica I went to Malta with troops,
and from thence to England. From Malta I
brought home the main part of the ship's com-
pany of H. M.S. Thunderer, on board which ship the
terrible explosion of the 38-ton muzzle-loading
gun had lately occurred in her foremost turret.
Both turret guns were being fired simultaneously,
but evidently one did not go off. It may seem
hard to believe such a thing could happen and
not be noticed, but from my own experience I
understand it. The men in the turret often
stopped their ears, and perhaps shut their eyes,
196
•a-
REFLECTIONS ON TROOP SERVICE
at the moment of firing, and then instantly worked
the run-in levers, and did not notice how much
the guns had recoiled. This no doubt occurred.
Both guns were then at once reloaded, and the
rammer's indicator, working by machinery, set
fast and failed to show how far home the new
charge had gone. This, too, may seem unlikely,
but no doubt it happened; and the gun on being
then fired burst, killing two officers and several
men. and wrecking the turret. Experiments made
with a similar gun double-loaded burst it in exactly
the same way.
On 25th March 1879 I was relieved in com-
maiid of the Orontes, having been in her over
three years. During that time the ship had run
about 98,000 miles, and carried of troops — 849
military officers, over 30,000 N.C.O.'s and privates,
and with wives and children nearly 38,000 per-
sons in all.
It is most important to our nation above all
others that good fellowship, and a sort of brother-
hood feeling, should exist between our two services,
and if the Troop Service contributed at all to
that it was an extra reason for it ; trooping is
not proper naval work, but it gave me very
valuable experience in handling a ship under
many circumstances, showed me many ports
and coasts, and added enormously to my know-
ledge of human nature.
I will only add that invariably the military
officers embarked treated me with the greatest
consideration, and I had practically no trouble
with the fair sex entrusted to my care.
197
CHAPTER XVI
CAPTAIN
Torpedo Course — Law Courts — Touraine — ^Winter in France.
I WAS now on half -pay again, so applied to join
the torpedo course at Portsmouth, which was
granted. In these liberal days I believe officers
are put on full pay for College, gunnery, torpedo,
or other courses, but formerly our zeal was con-
sidered to be enough inducement. We had a
' cabin ' in the old Naval College in the dockyard
(if there was room) and could join the mess there.
The course lasted over two months.
I then went abroad for a short time, but mostly
spent the summer in England, where it was about
the wettest one I ever knew.
Sometimes I attended the assizes of the Oxford
Circuit at Worcester, the Judge being kind and
giving me a seat by him. I valued this experience
to help me to deal with offenders at courts-martial,
and otherwise to hear how trials are conducted on
shore.
A Barrister in Court and an M.P. in Parliament
are, I believe, privileged and say what they like
about other people. If so, I think it wrong ; but
198
REMINISCENCES OF WORCESTER ASSIZES
however that may be, I remember on one occasion,
Mr. Huddleston, who could be very bitter when
he liked, took the line of abusing the solicitor on
the other side ; which I am told is the regular thing
to do when you feel your case a bad one. At all
events he did so in no measured terms ; till at
last the abused attorney, a Mr. O of Stratford-
on-Avon, having got very red and angry, at last
got on his legs and said to the Judge : ' My Lord,
I must demand your protection from these libels
on me.' The Judge very calmly replied : ' Sit
down, Mr. O , sit down ; no one thinks at all the
worse of you for what the learned counsel says ! '
I fear I formed a generally low impression of
the jury's intelligence, and felt that if I were
guilty I should like to be tried with a jury, if
innocent only with a judge.
I remember one case of two men tried for highway
robbery with violence ; the jury found a verdict of
guilty of one charge without the other. The Judge
told them it must be guilty, or not guilty, of both.
The jury consulted a very short time, and then said
'Not Guilty,' and this verdict was about to be
recorded when it became evident that all the
twelve did not agree, one only holding out for Guilty.
The Judge remarked that he would have them
locked up as required to debate, but after some
sharp arguments in the jury-box for a very few
minutes they unanimously gave a verdict of
'Guilty.'
The opinion of England generally is no doubt
for a jury, and I suppose on the whole it is right.
I have also heard it argued in favour of a jury that
199
MY NAVAL CAREER
especially in cases involving the capital sentence,
a single man (the Judge) might well hesitate to
convict, especially on only circumstantial evidence
— though he believed the prisoner guilty — when a
combination of men not singly responsible would
not mind doing so.
I heard another case that was singular, and a
proof to me of the great power an English judge
has. It was Lord Brampton (then Hawkins) on
the Bench. The case that of a young man who,
having had a natural child sworn against him by
his sweetheart (the mother) in a fit of anger tried
to cut her throat. For this he was tried and found
guilty. The Judge then said : * I shall reserve my
sentence till to-morrow.'
Next day the Court was crowded. The prisoner
was put in the dock and the young woman in the
witness-box, when the Judge said to the prisoner :
* Would you marry that young woman if you
could ? ' The reply was: * Yes, my Lord.' The
Judge then asked the young woman if she was
ready to marry the man, and was not afraid
of him. She said, Yes, she was quite ready to.
The Judge then said : * Prisoner at the bar, you are
for the time discharged, if you promise to marry
your sweetheart to-morrow morning, and do so ;
but if within a year your conduct to her is improper
you will be arrested, and sentenced, for the crime
of which you have been convicted.' The audience
were delighted as may be supposed, and their loud
cheers had to be suppressed.
As I have said, I do not mean to inflict on my
readers (if I have any) long details of my life on
200
WINTERING IN FRANCE
shore, but shall only occasionally refer to them. In
the early autumn I stayed some time in Ireland.
The contrast between it and England is certainly
great. I have often been there, and to many
parts of it, and believe I should, if a landed pro-
prietor, delight in the people, till they boycotted
or shot me. But as for governing the country
satisfactorily, I believe it is impossible.
Had Cromwell reigned as long as George III,
Ireland would have been reduced to quietude, but
not by kindness.
That autumn I spent at Azay-sur-Cher near
Tours. At the Chateau de Nitray, a Francois
Premier house near us, was a family whose ancestor
was one of Napoleon's generals and thus became
enriched ; they were of course strong Bonapartists,
and arguments with the young ladies on the cruel
way in which we treated the great ex-Emperor
were good practice for my French.
My experience of real French ladies and
gentlemen has been that they are usually either
Royalists or Bonapartists, and very rarely Re-
publican in their sentiments and wishes. The
then owner of Nitray was grandson to the
above-mentioned General, and told me his grand-
father was Governor of Stettin for eight years,
during which he made his fortune.
Living with a cure to improve my French, I
have several times since stayed in Touraine, and
can recommend it strongly. Its natural beauties,
numerous very fine old historical chateaux, and
good roads and railways for locomotion, make
it a most desirable place for a sojourn.
201
MY NAVAL CAREER
In summer it is often hot, and in winter it can
be very cold. When I was there in 1879 the thermo-
meter in December went down to 15 degrees
below zero of Fahrenheit, i.e. 47 degrees of frost,
the River Cher, about the size of the Thames at
Windsor, was not only frozen, but owing to its
current the blocks of ice were heaped one on top
of the other, like ice floes in the Arctic regions,
and the river was frozen nearly to the bottom.
The French began by saying, ' It is as cold as
the year of our unhappy war ' (1870) ; next, ' It is
as cold as 1812 ' ; then, ' It is as cold as in 1789 ' ;
and finally, ' We don't know when it was so cold
before.' In my bedroom I had to wash as soon
as the water was poured out or else it became
ice. This is no doubt exceptional for the middle
of France.
I am a strong advocate for naval officers
knowing some foreign languages. Tardily — but
at last — the Admiralty have awoke to the necessity.
But I should make a rule that no boy might become
a naval cadet unless he could hold an ordinary
conversation in at least one foreign tongue.
I consider the worst linguists, as naval officers,
are those of the United States Navy, and after
them it is a toss-up between us and the French, but
they at least have the excuse that their language
is that of diplomacy. On the other hand I con-
sider the Austrians to be the best naval linguists
I know.
Foreign languages are really more necessary
to a sailor than to a soldier, because the latter is
seldom or never officially brought into contact
202
REORGANISATION OF TROOPSHIP SERVICE
with foreign troops — unless it be in a war alliance
on actual service in the field.
But men of war constantly meet others of many
nations in peace time, and occasions of combined
operations on shore to meet sudden and unexpected
emergencies have at various times arisen.
On my way home I stayed in Paris and walked
over the Seine there on the ice, which is rarely
possible. The snow was very plentiful, and I
was told a million francs had been spent in clearing
it away. Sleighs were plentiful in the streets.
It was said in the Times of 29th December 1879,
that in Paris on the 9th 40 degrees of frost by
Fahrenheit, i.e. 8 degrees below zero, were registered,
and that it certainly was the coldest on record then.
In the spring of 1880 I served on a combined
naval and military committee to review the
troopship instructions, which had become out of
date. In truth a good deal of arrangement and
mutual consideration was necessary to provide
for all the complications attending misconduct of
soldiers when embarked in a man-of-war, i.e. a
ship flying the actual naval pennant.
203
CHAPTER XVII
H.M.S. IRIS
Loss of Atalanta — Trial Cruise — Palermo — Russian Torpedo
Boat — Messina — Adriatic — Ionian Islands — Olympia —
Paestum — Egypt — Trieste — Tunis — French Ships — Syria —
Roustem Pasha and the Bear — 1882 War in Egypt.
In April 1880 I commissioned the Iris at Ports-
mouth. She was the first ship in the Navy built
of steel, also the first ship of war that could steam
18 knots, and her hull and lines were beautiful.
Not a straight line about her ! Her lines were
decided by experiments made by Professor Froude
with paraffin models in a tank ; and below water
in shape she much resembled a fish, carrying her
beam well forward, and tapering off to the stern.
She carried fourteen 8-inch guns, all on pivot
carriages, had Whitehead torpedo-tubes, and was
designed to carry torpedo-boats.
In the spring of 1880 the Atalanta, a 26-gun
sailing frigate, almost sister ship to the late Eury-
dice, was lost — no one knows how — in the Atlantic
on her way home from Bermuda. Her Captain,
F. Stirling, was a charming man and first-rate
officer. He and his wife were great friends of
mine. She would not believe the ship was lost,
204
MALTA AND PALERMO
and asked me to come and see her, and made me
promise to try to get the Admiralty to send my
ship to look for her husband. It was a very sad
episode, and very curious its following on the
Eurydice.
We went out for a trial cruise in the Channel,
and one day under sail only carried away our
foremast — the first time I ever saw such a thing
happen. The truth is the mast was a single spar
of wood, and had a flaw in it ; a steel mast was
substituted.
In July we left for the Mediterranean to join
our Fleet, then under the command of Vice-
Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour, afterwards
Lord Alcester. We reached Malta at the height of
summer, and found the ship very hot, and no
wonder ; for comfort, of course, give me a wooden
ship. Steel vessels are like tin kettles, the heat
or the cold is through them at once, unless they
are very thickly lined with wood.
From Malta we joined the Commander-in-Chief
and squadron at Palermo. The ships were not
numerous, but all were quite different in design,
armament, and size. The French in those days
had much more uniformity in ships than we had.
Our flagship was the Alexandra and was the
finest ship in the Fleet.
Even in 1880 brigandage was prevalent in
Sicily, especially near Palermo ; so much so that
when the Bacchante with the two sons of our then
Prince of Wales were at the port, and the Princes
were going for a picnic in the country, the
authorities insisted on sending a regiment of
205
MY NAVAL CAREER
soldiers to guard them, and begged that no one
should go outside a cordon of sentries drawn round
their party.
From Palermo I went to Messina, then most
flourishing, with some 118,000 inhabitants. The
harbour is an extinct, submerged volcano.
In 1859, owing to the war between France and
Italy, we commissioned a great many ships, and
some could not get bands in England.
The London, a two-decker, went out with none,
and being at Messina a man came aboard and asked
if they wanted a band. On hearing they did he
said : ' I am bandmaster of an Italian regiment,
and we have all deserted with our instruments,
and should like to join ' ; which they did, fiddles
and all. The Prefet here told me he was im-
prisoned by Bomba for ten years for political
matters and occupied himself in translating Milton
and Byron. Many of us would like at times to see
SOME of our politicians thus harmlessly employed !
While on this coast I visited Catania and from
there ascended Mount Etna with some of my
officers. We slept at the Casa Inglese, 9652 feet
up, and went to the summit (10,870 feet) next
morning. It was in August and there was no
snow, except a few patches. It was odd to sit
on the side of the cone with a cloud below you,
look over the cloud at the sea, no land being visible,
and feel as if, should you slip on the side of the
cone, which seemed quite possible, you would go
into the sea !
While I was at Messina the Russian torpedo-
boat Batoum arrived from England on her way
206
ANECDOTE OF THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR
to the Black Sea. She was commanded by
Captain-Lieutenant Zatzarenny, who told me
that in their late war with Turkey he, then a
lieutenant having charge of a 28-foot steam
cutter, fixed a Whitehead torpedo fore and aft
under her keel, went into Batoum, and discharged
the torpedo there at a Turkish man-of-war, which
then sunk in five minutes, and for this service he
was promoted and given command of this boat,
named accordingly. x\ll the details he described,
and drew a plan of it. At the same time I had
before me on a shelf the book written by Lieutenant
C. Sleeman, late R.N., then in the Turkish Navy,
who described the above attempt, but said it
utterly failed. The two accounts amused me,
and one felt inclined to ask, ' What is truth ? '
When I was at Sevastopol some years later I
heard that poor Zatzarenny had there met with
a very tragic end.
We visited several places — one was Ragusa in
Dalmatia. Here is a very small island called
Lacroma, where it is said our King Richard I was
imprisoned by the Austrians ; but as other places
have been so cited, it is probably doubtful which is
right. The Cathedral at Lacroma is said to have
been endowed by King Richard to fulfil a vow,
perhaps on gaining his freedom ! We went to
Brindisi, which then had massive walls and forti-
fications, now destroyed. The canal into the
port had four fathoms of water, but the Consul said
that fourteen years before there was not one
fathom, till they set to work to make it the im-
portant harbour it became. The classical remains
^07
MY NAVAL CAREER
of ancient Brindisi are interesting, and the spot is
shown where Pompey is said to have defended
himself when besieged by JuHus Caesar.
We were, of course, often at Malta, which
island, in the middle of the Mediterranean, with
its first-rate harbour, seems situated on purpose
to shelter the ships of the Power meant to be
predominant in that sea.
The siege of Malta by the Turks in 1565 is, of
course, the most important event regarding it as
concerns the world at large, and I consider the
two or three embrasures low down between the
dockyard and French creeks with much respect,
as the guns from them are said greatly to have
prevented the Turks taking that position, which
would probably have meant the fall of Valetta,
and Malta becoming a Turkish stronghold. But
Malta is far too well known for me to attempt
any description of it.
In October we formed one of the Allied
Squadron in the Bocce de Cattaro to determine
the question of Dulcino. The ships of six different
nationalities were assembled and our Commander-
in-Chief — Sir Beauchamp Seymour — was the
doyen, and acknowledged as the chief. It was an
interesting occasion, and I think not at all with-
out diplomatic difficulties, which our Admiral, so far
as his part went, was well fitted to contend with.
The Gulf of Cattaro consists of more than one
spacious anchorage surrounded by lofty hills, and
a series of havens leading to the town of Cattaro,
sheltering under a lofty and precipitous^ hill-
almost a mountain.
208
MONTENEGRO
Captain George Tryon ^ and I rode up to
Cettinge, the capital of Montenegro, to call on the
reigning Prince — now King Nicholas. The road
is mostly up and down hill and it took us seven
good hours in torrents of rain ; one pass was 3500
feet above the sea. Our uniforms, slung on other
horses, got so wet that we stood as near as we
could to the Palace fires that evening to dry them.
Montenegro then was, perhaps still is, a fascinat-
ing country, the people being a very fine race
physically, and giving you the impression of
honesty and open-heartedness.
The Royal family — as is known — are worthy
to govern such a people. Montenegro was under
the protection of Austria, but the predilection of
Prince Nicholas was evidently for Russia, partly
no doubt because his religion and that of most
of his people is the Orthodox Greek Church. The
Prince talked much to me of his visit to St.
Petersburg, and the Czar, who had a great military
review for him ; but what seemed to have most
impressed the Prince was the collection of stuffed
bears in the Winter Palace, which had been shot by
the Emperor. Four Montenegrin Princesses were
then at school in Russia.
Cettinge is 2800 feet above the sea ; the Palace
is by no means grand, a gentleman's house, no
more — at least when I was there. Near the town
is a building, interesting to visit, containing very
various weapons, and a collection of flags taken
in war, some from the Turks. I was told that
thousands of Montenegrins carried out the custom
^ Afterwards Admiral Sir George Tryon.
209 P
MY NAVAL CAREER
of making each other blood relations by mutually
drinking some drops of the other's blood.
The Admiral now sent me as senior officer
in the Ionian Islands, and a more pleasant duty
I never had. When Mr. Gladstone decided to
give up our occupation of them, the British Army
lost one of their most agreeable stations. Of the
seven islands I prefer Corfu, though each one has
its advantages.
The climate is never really trying, and the Isles
of Greece almost deserve the praise that ' Eternal
summer gilds them yet.' When I was there in
1880 war was thought to be imminent between
Greece and Turkey. In consequence of this the
Greeks were mounting troops and drilling them
in Corfu, a thing contrary to treaty, as had to be
pointed out. That island and Paxo were then, and
now are, under protection of the Great Powers, on
condition of their not being military stations.
When I visited Zante, they sent me an invitation
to attend next day, officially, at a religious cere-
mony. Having found out it was not connected
with the Turkish imbroglio, but an annual ceremony
done to record the emancipation of Greece, I
accepted.
We landed in uniform, cocked hat, &c., and
I walked through a mass of people, some on their
knees, all most polite, bowing, waving handker-
chiefs, and saying something. The Consul who
was with me said : ' Do you know what they are
saying ? ' I said : ' No, I can't understand Greek.'
He replied : ' They are blessing you, and saying they
hope the English are about to retake the Islands
210
IONIAN ISLES
under their protection/ I said: 'Do you think
if a plebiscite was now taken votes would be mostly
for us to come back ? ' and he said : ' They would
tear in pieces anyone voting against it.' Such
apparently was public feeling in the islands just
then, in view of a possible war with Turkey.
The old saying of ' When Greek meets Greek,
then comes the tug of war ' hardly seemed to apply
to the Ionian Islanders. At Santa Maura I
resolved to satisfy myself about the so-called
' Sappho's Leap.' The legend, of course, is that
the poetess for despairing love of Phaon threw
herself into the sea. At Santa Maura it is supposed
to have occurred ; and in such a prosaic thing as
the Admiralty Chart you may see ' Sappho's
Leap ' marked, but it is an impossible place, as it
slopes back from the sea. We found the, perhaps,
real one about 200 feet high, sheer down to the
water, and near it are the remains of what was
probably the Temple of Apollo.
Cephalonia has the curious feature of the sea
running into the land by a very narrow water course
and disappearing down a natural hole. It was
used to turn a mill wheel ; I have never heard
any scientific explanation of it.
The roads in that island are good, said to be
greatly due to the energy of its once Governor,
that splendid soldier, General Sir Charles Napier.
Of him while there the story is told that there
lived near him an Ionian nobleman who was in
the habit of beating his wife. One afternoon in
summer, all windows and doors being open, our
General heard the cries of the unhappy lady and
MY NAVAL CAREER
unable to endure such treatment of a woman, Sir
Charles rushed into the other house, and himself
began to beat the husband. On being persuaded
by his A.D.C. to retire to his own dwelling, and
there gradually calming down, the Governor saw
the enormity he had been guilty of towards a
foreign noble, so sent his A.D.C. over to say he was
ready to give satisfaction by a duel. The noble-
man however replied : ' What does he want ? He
enters my house, stops me beating my wife, beats
me, and now wishes to kill me. No, tell him I
never want to see him again.'
From the top of the Black Mountain (5218 feet
high) in Cephalonia you can see the sites of two
of the most important sea fights of the world, viz.
Actium and Lepanto, their positions only a few
miles apart.
We visited Olympia — it is most interesting ; the
Germans were at work excavating, but allowed only
to make casts, &c., not to carry any antiquities
off. Olympia was first ruined by an earthquake,
and then flooded by the River Alpheus, and gradu-
ally buried. The inscriptions on the bases for the
statues are mostly as plain as when cut, but the
few statues that remain, except one of Hermes, are
not very impressive.
On the Isthmus of Corinth I visited the works
of Nero's canal, begun but never finished; it was
to have been about 200 feet wide nearly on the
same line that the present canal has now been
made.
I visited Schhemann's Troy, which I believe is
the real one : it also fulfils Virgil's ' Est in
212
Y
PAESTUM
conspectu Tenedos/ &c. There are seemingly the
remains of four towns one over the other, of which
I understand the second from the bottom to be
Priam's city, and you can see marks of fire in it,
and make out the Scaean Gate.
I must resist mentioning most of the places I
visited, but the Mediterranean is to my mind the
most interesting part of the world historically,
and one is much inclined to enlarge about it.
If you want to get exercise quickly, run down
the cone of Vesuvius ; we did so, and in five minutes
got so much violent motion of arms and legs that
we were stiff for two or three days.
I visited Paestum, anchoring off it, and landed
to see the three ruined temples there, which are
magnificent. The name of the place was Posei-
donia, from its principal temple which was dedi-
cated to Neptune. The place, once no doubt
prosperous, is now quite deserted. We nearly
came to grief in embarking. The ship was at
anchor as near the shore as safe, but there was
no shelter. It came on to blow from seaward.
Most of the officers who landed got off in a semi-
lifeboat we had. I was in my private skiff with
one officer, my coxswain, and dog. We ran her
out through the surf and jumped in, but found that
the dog had jumped out, not liking the sea, and
swum back to shore. To save him, we returned,
but the sea had got up so much, that our only plan
was for a ship's boat to anchor outside the breakers
and a man to swim in with a grass line. This
we made fast to the boat and, lashing the gear, were
towed out through the breakers. Happily no
213
MY NAVAL CAREER
one was drowned, though one officer very nearly
was, and my coxswain had to invalid home in
consequence of his ducking.
I was swimming about with a photograph of
Neptune's Temple in my pocket, and said I would
never again have believed in the great Sea God
if any of us had * lost the number of our mess,' as
the sea expression is.
I then went to Alexandria, a harbour which
my ship could easily enter. Certainly Africa,
generally, is worse off for good harbours than any
other country of half its size.
I visited Cairo and the Pyramids, and corrected
some errors in Murray about them. Their fasci-
nation must be confessed, and the fact that the
area covered by ' Cheops ' about equals Lincoln's
Inn Fields impresses one with its massive contents ;
now everything there is both over well known and
quite overrun with tourists, so I will say no
more on that subject. In Cairo already Camp-
bell's line — and * coming events cast their shadows
before ' — was being foreshadowed, and was justified
the next year.
The Iris was, as I have said, the first steel ship
in the Naw: she was coated with Simms's com-
position. I had been trying her powers of tacking
under sail only, and in doing so noticed the
cement coming off in flakes owing to the ' bloom '
on the steel ; a thing not expected, so we were
again docked at Malta.
From there we went up the Adriatic, visiting
many ports and staying at Trieste. While there,
we visited the famous Grotto of Adelsberg with its
214
TRIESTE
subterranean river in Carniola ; its stalactites and
stalagmites are probably unrivalled elsewhere.
We got a specimen of the Proteus or Hyporthon
anguinus, the very curious water lizard or saurian
whose eyes are there, but undeveloped and covered
with a sort of skin.
While at Trieste I used to see much of that
extraordinary man, the late Sir Richard Burton,
and his wife. They were both most industrious
in writing pamphlets about various subjects.
One pamphlet of his was a plan to dispose of
Constantinople, by making it a free city guaranteed
by the Great Powers. Lady Burton was devoted
to her husband, and he to her in his way. She
started at Trieste a society to prevent cruelty to
animals. A cart used to go round every morning
to catch any stray dogs, which were put into it,
confined there by bars and nets, and left for the
day, unless claimed, and often in the sun, so as
to leave no excuse for their not going mad.
The Austrian Admiral at Trieste was most
friendly and genial, and a great linguist ; he told
me he talked Italian to his wife, German to his
daughter, Slav to his servants, and English to
the governess, also French when required. He
gave us a ball and acted master of the ceremonies
as if he had been a dancing-master.
The squadron joined us at Trieste, and general
leave was given, with more riotous results than
I have ever seen elsewhere. We next went to
Tunis, to watch British interests, in company with
the Monarch and Falcon, during the French
operations on that coast, and especially at Sphax.
215
MY NAVAL CAREER
The French squadron was in good order
and commanded by a vice-admiral who, though
just civil to us, evidently hated our presence
here. He was a martinet of the old sort.
The site of Carthage can be clearly made
out, i.e. no observant person can go over it
without seeing there was a city there. The
immense ancient water reservoirs are the most
evident remains. It can never have been the
least like Turner's famous picture, but that does
not matter !
Mr. Reade, our Consul-General at Tunis,
remembered the loss of our Avenger on the Sorelli
rocks in 1847, and her four survivors being put
up in his father's house, and said the Arabs
behaved well to the shipwrecked men. At Tunis
is the grave of Colonel Howard Payne, who died
in 1852, and is stated to be the author of ' Home,
Sweet Home.' Is this so ?
Mr. Reade said that when Lord A P
came here in his yacht he (Mr. Reade) accom-
panied Lord A to pay his respects to the
Bey. The audience chamber at the Palace is a
very long narrow room, with the door at one end
and the throne at the other. On the left hand
as you go in are at least six windows and opposite
each window is a large mirror. Between all the
windows and the mirrors are tables, and on every
table is a clock. After presentation Mr. Reade
asked if Lord A wished to say anything to
his Highness, on which his Lordship, with that
assured complacency well known to his family,
put up his eyeglass, looked round and said :
216
TUNIS
' Oh yes, ask the old cock why he has so many
clocks, and all keeping different time ! '
The Fast of Ramadan was on when I was at
Tunis ; it changes its season each year, according to
the moon, and as no food or liquid may be swallowed
by the faithful during it between sunrise and sun-
set, it is, of course, much the most trying ordeal
when in the summer. All persons over twelve
years old ought to keep it.
On board the French ship Marengo, her
Captain — Layrle — asked if I was related to Sir
Michael Seymour, who commanded the Amethyst
in 1808 and captured the French frigate TMtis.
When I said ' Yes,' he said, ' My grandfather
was taken prisoner in the TMtis'
We lay off Tunis over a month of very hot
weather, then visited Sphax and several other
places. The French had bombarded and taken
Sphax, and their troops were dying fast of typhoid,
&c. In the country near here are old Roman
remains, showing it was once civilised and very
populous.
I rejoined the Admiral at Palma in Majorca,
and we went to Gibraltar via Cartagena, which is
a good anchorage ; and an aphorism of Admiral
Doria's was that the three best harbours in the
Mediterranean were June, July, and Cartagena.
We visited Port Mahon in Minorca, which only
wants to be larger inside to be a first-class
steamers' man-of-war port. Everyone knows we
have held it three times ; it is too much out of the
road between Gibraltar and Egypt to be quite
what we want. In the sailing days getting in
217
MY NAVAL CAREER
and out with a foul wind could only be done by
warping, or towing with boats. I believe Lord
CoUingwood's flagship, leaving with him in his
last illness, took twenty-four hours to get out.
*As lazy as a Port Mahon soldier' is an old
naval expression ; and I was amused, on visiting
the fortifications, to see the Spanish sentry
justifying the above, by leaning his rifle against
a wall and sitting down near it. The Spaniards
have now fortified the port, by a fort in the right
place, to the eastward of the entrance.
I visited Barcelona, which I call the Liverpool
of Spain. But it is far more prosperous than
loyal.
Next winter, among other places, we were on
the coast of Syria, and rode up to Jerusalem,
which I am glad to have seen before desecrated
by a railway. We landed, of course, at Jaffa,
where Jonah embarked, and where Perseus
liberated Andromeda, but the Holy Land is too
well known for me to describe it. When leaving
Jerusalem one of our party was disappointed in
not getting the bottle of Jordan water he had
been promised. In vain the waiter tried to
pacify him, so after swearing there were no more
he hurriedly retreated, and presently returned
saying that extraordinary to relate one more had
been found; and no doubt it did very well.
At Beyrut I called on Roustem Pasha, the
Governor-General of Syria, afterwards well known
in London. In the room where he received me
there was an immense stuffed brown bear, of
which he told me the following story : He was
218
BEYRUT AND TRIPOLI
going out to a bear-shooting drive between Peters-
burg and Moscow in the winter. The man who
usually carried his second rifle was wanted for
a special job, so he took another man. The
shooters were posted as usual, deep snow was on
the ground. At last a bear appeared in front of
him, but seeing him turned to try and break
back. He said : ' I had not a good chance and
should not have fired ; but I did, and only
wounded the bear, which at once rushed at me.
I fired my second barrel without effect, and
called for my other rifle, but my man had fled.
The bear came on, throwing the snow up in the
air in a shower as he came. I fired all barrels of
my revolver, and the bullets were found to have
hit him, but on he came. I saw a huge thing
in the air and found myself on my back in the
snow. The bear made one claw at my face,
leaving the scars you see, but his claws luckily
missed my eyes. I put up my left hand to
protect my face, he took my hand in his mouth,
and I could hear the bones being crushed; I
tried with my right hand to run my hunting
knife into him, but could not. Fortunately
other shooters heard the shots, came up, killed
the bear, and saved me.'
At Tripoli I was on shore with my black
poodle and old Jose, our interpreter; in the market
the natives gathered round the dog, and curiously
felt him. I asked Jose what they said, and he
replied : ' He say he think he sheep.'
Much sponge-diving goes on off here; state-
ments as to divers' depths and times under water
219
MY NAVAL CAREER
differ from 25 fathoms and 2 minutes to 31
fathoms and 4^ minutes~I believe the former,
if either.
We went to the Gulf of Iskanderun and
Alexandretta, founded after the battle of Issus.
Near here we were shooting at Jonah's Pillar,
where he landed from the whale (or fish). Instead
of going to Aleppo I camped out, with some of
my officers, on the ancient Pyramus River to
shoot a very varied bag — francolin, swan, ducks
of kinds, cock, teal, &c. They say twelve
varieties of game in all.
Aleppo reminds one of its ' button,' so called —
a very bad boil — the water is said to cause it.
Natives usually have it on the face ; few residents,
I believe, escape it.
From here I went to Cyprus, and at ancient
Salamis, near Farmagousta, where excavations of
the tombs were going on, were found some small
vases two thousand years old, and just like what
aie made now.
In the spring of 1882 we went to Greece, and
had a very pleasant cruise in company with
H.M.S. Bacchante, commanded by Captain Lord
Charles Scott, with our two Princes, Albert and
George — thp sons of our late King — on board her as
naval cadets ; Prince George being our present
Gracious Sovereign. They, of course, visited the
King and Queen of the Hellenes, who kindly
took me also out to Patoy, their home in the
mountains, a beautiful spot.
In June we went to Alexandria. The famous
riots there took place on the nth and were the
220
ALEXANDRIA
prelude to the occurrences that summer, but
this is not history and only a general narrative
of events. Until just before the bombardment
(on nth July) my ship was very actively employed
examining the coast, and going to Malta and
back. The only two battleships, then called
ironclads, that could get into Alexandria harbour
were the Monarch and Invincible, and in the
latter ship our Admiral (Sir Beauchamp Seymour)
flew his flag during the bombardment. The
rest of our large ships had to remain outside and
attack from there.
Till just before the crisis we expected the
French to join us, and I think from this point
of view the French President made a great mis-
take in withdrawing their ships, though for us
ever since it has no doubt been an immense
advantage, and simplified our position in Egypt.
I had hoped to join in the bombardment, and
the Admiral would have kept me for it, but the
Admiralty fearing what might happen at Port
Said, and to the Suez Canal in case of warlike
operations, I was sent there, to our great dis-
appointment.
On 7th July I arrived at Port Said and moored
ship abreast of the Egyptian corvette Sakaa, I
prepared for action, and sent a lieutenant on
board her to say that if she moved or took any
active part I should fire into her. She at once
beat to quarters, loaded and trained her guns
on us — but unfortunately did not fire.
I had all planned out to land such men as
I could spare in case of a fight, to do certain
221
MY NAVAL CAREER
things on shore, and it might have turned out
very interesting.
Meanwhile great alarm grew in Port Said, so
much so that I chartered a large merchant steamer
and put the British and other European residents
who wished on board her for safety, with one of
my lieutenants in charge of the ship. About 360
refugees lived in the vessel.
On nth July the bombardment of Alexandria
took place, and the same day there arrived from
thence the French ironclad La Gallissoniere, with
the flag of Rear-Admiral Conrad, a charming man,
whom I knew before and have often seen since.
To the westward of Port Said is a large shallow
lake called Lake Menzaleh, communicating with
the sea by a narrow channel defended by a fort
called Ghemil. It seemed to me suitable that this
fort should be put out of action, but our position
was that we were friends with the Khedive and
Egyptian Government and could do no violence
unless they began. I went out in one of my ship's
torpedo-boats to reconnoitre the fort, on which
they turned their men out, loaded and pointed their
rifles at us, but to my surprise did not fire and so
give me an excuse to attack the fort, which I
should have done with my ship.
The Suez Canal Company under the direction
of M. de Lesseps from the first showed an animus
towards us; for this there were excuses, and
certainly the condition we reduced the beautiful
garden of Ismalia, the creation of Lesseps, to
later on must have been maddening to him. But
worse still was the fact that he had assured Arabi
222
SUEZ CANAL
Pacha that he might be sure the Enghsh should
not be allowed to use the canal for any warlike
operations, and that therefore there was no
occasion to block or injure the canal. This was a
promise that we, of course, could not give, or if
we did, must keep. Given by a man known not
to be our friend it was believed by Arabi, but did
not bind us at all. The last straw was that we
seized the Canal Company's premises at Port Said
and took our men-of-war and transports up our-
selves ; we paid for their canal passage dues, but
refused to pay for their long detention in Lake
Timsah on the ground that it was original water.
I was employed with Captain Gill, R.E.,i to
find out things connected with the canal. Lesseps'
head man at Port Said — a French gentleman —
said to us in the plainest French : ' I refuse abso-
lutely to give you any information.' Such was
their feeling towards us.
Captain Lomen of the Zahiaka, a Russian
cruiser lying at Port Said, told me he was a small
boy at their Government school for the sons of
distinguished officers, when the late Czar Nicholas I
visited it. He called the boys — all under ten
years old — out to the playground and said : ' Now,
boys, Fm a fort, come and storm me,* he being
in uniform. At first they feared to, but encour-
aged by the Emperor, who laughed heartily, they
climbed up him and even tore his clothes and
epaulettes.
* A few weeks after this, poor Gill, a very valuable oflSicer,
perished at the hands of the Arabs with Professor Palmer and
Lieutenant Charrington, R.N.
223
MY NAVAL CAREER
I visited the battlefields, and was never more
thirsty than in some long rides over the sandy-
desert, but all camps and posts provided cold
tea on arrival, and nothing is better to quench
the thirst.
I had the job of dismantling the Rosetta mouth
of the Nile forts, and destroyed an immense store
of ammunition. The Rosetta Stone, which was
so useful to assist translations from the ancient
Egyptian characters, was found here in 1799 by
M. Bouchard, a Captain of Engineers in Napoleon's
army.
The mirage plays such odd tricks with the
vision that I remember one day they reported to
me that a large number of men, probably troops,
were seen near. They proved to be only traps,
for quail, about eighteen inches high, magnified.
I am inclined to relate other things, but must
not digress.
Late in October I took Sir Garnet Wolseley and
his staff to Trieste on his way home, and found
him a very agreeable companion.
In November I returned to Malta with our
Admiral and his flag on board my ship. We
entered the grand harbour with much excitement,
Sir Beauchamp Seymour being received with great
enthusiasm ; and the Egyptian campaign was
now over. Two days after the Admiral told me
to take command of the Inflexible, and I said good-
bye to my beautiful /m, and was sorry to leave
both ship and officers.
224
CHAPTER XVIII
H.M.S. INFLEXIBLE
Effect of a Shell — Torpedoes — Strike a Rock — Lord Alcester —
Ball's Monument — Summer Cruise — Exercises — Austrian
Horses — ^Venice — Loretto — Navarino — Delphi — Salonica — -
Thasos — ^Mount Athos — Odd After-glow — Candia — Cyprus
— Nelson Island — Ephesus.
The Inflexible was five things, viz. the largest
ship in our Navy, being the only one then of 10,000
tons ; she was also considered our most powerful
fighting ship, and she was the only one that had
cost a million pounds; she was also certainly
the most complicated vessel, and was the first
man-of-war illuminated by electric light.
She had been commissioned about a year before
at Portsmouth by Captain J. A. Fisher,^ whose
talents and knowledge made him a very proper
person to start such a ship. But iUness acquired
during his active service in Egypt had forced him
to invalid home.
At the bombardment of Alexandria a Palliser's
shell had hit the ship on her starboard quarter,
turned over, and then base forwards had struck
* Now Lord Fisher, Admiral of the Fleet.
225
MY NAVAL CAREER
the iron stern cable bitts, they having after-
wards been landed at Malta. Some United States
officers were being shown over the ship, and on
the First-lieutenant telling this story and seeing
a look of incredulity on the shrewd Yankee face
he added, ' If I had not seen it myself I should
not have believed it/ The American replied:
' Then, sir, you will allow me the same privilege.'
We went at once to the Ionian Islands, Patras,
&c. In cold winters there are at times plenty of
woodcock to be got about there, and hiring a
small cutter for a day or two's cruise and shoot-
ing on the opposite coast to Corfu was a favourite
form of sport.
The Inflexible was the only regular sea-going
man-of-war with submerged torpedo-tubes that
were not fixed, but trained, through an angle of
37 degrees — viz. 27 degrees before the beam and
10 degrees abaft it. This plan was a mistake;
the different deflections to be allowed for training
and speed of ship were very difficult of settlement
and certain tabulation, and one might add as an
objection the possibility of a mistake as to how
the torpedo-tube was trained. However, all this
has long been given up.
The ship had six different torpedo-discharges
— viz. the two already mentioned, two ordinary
above-water ones, a peculiar bow scoop, or frame,
down which the torpedo when relieved ran, and
a pair of sheers aft to throw one out by. These
two last were more toys than of serious value ;
but all taken together gave us endless torpedo
practice. In spite of which we lost only one
226
TORPEDO PRACTICE
torpedo finally, though many gave long hunts for
them. The one lost was off Port Said, and I am
not sure our surmise was not correct, that a crust
had formed on the ancient layer of mud once
deposited by the Nile when it had a mouth there —
since the river changed its course — and that our
torpedo dived through, and remained under that
crust.
When a torpedo had sunk to the bottom, we
used to send several boats to watch for its air
bubbles coming up, whenever it was calm, and in
this way we have found and recovered torpedoes
more than two days after they had gone down.
In February my last ship, the IriSy grounded at
Port Augusta, and we were sent to help her off,
but on arrival found she had happily got off
without us. The entrance marks there are not
easy to make out ; much sea experience has shown
me that no one can guarantee they will never have
a mishap by grounding or collision ; the great
thing is whenever such has occurred to any ship to
find out the how and why, and so avoid perhaps
anything like a repetition.
In the Inflexible we had a very narrow shave of
loss — it was also in Port Augusta ; we were running
torpedoes and steaming round the harbour at full
speed, when suddenly the ship heeled slightly
over, but continued her way. The chart marked
deep enough water there, and no rocks near. I
sent boats away at once to sound, but nothing
could be found. The ship made no water, and
though opinions were divided it seemed as if she
could not have struck anything. However, soon
MY NAVAL CAREER
after, m examining the double bottom, some bolts
and nuts were found displaced, and it was evident
we had touched something. The rock was even-
tually found. Good fortune had befriended us
in that it was not a foot or two higher. The ship
had scores of times passed close to it, but the fact
is that in shallow water only a ' sweeping ' survey
can be said to make the chart perfectly sure.
About seventy of us naval officers entertained
our Commander-in-Chief, Lord Alcester, at the
United Service Club of Malta on his being about
to be relieved in the command.
In his speech he advised ofl&cers when in doubt
always to fight. This is good general advice,
for when any real ground to do so exists our
country will, I believe, always back up anyone
who has fought well, even if not actually successful.
I say this in spite of the sad Minorca episode of
1756.
In February Lord John Hay arrived from
England, and relieved Lord Alcester in command
of the station.
About this time I took it into my head to get
the monument to Admiral Sir Alexander Ball on
the lower Barraca of Valetta restored. He was
Captain of the Alexander at the Nile, and pre-
sented Nelson with the coffin made out of the
Orient's mainmast. After that he commanded
on shore the operations which ended in our taking
Valetta, and he was the first British Governor of
Malta, the only naval one, and much liked by the
Maltese. The monument was erected by the
public at Malta, on Ball's death, but was now
228
RESTORATIONS AT MALTA
much dilapidated. I got a committee formed, and
after much trouble the work was satisfactorily
carried out.
The only other restoration I undertook at
Malta was to repaint and do up the public house
in Bermola called ' Charley Moore the fair thing/
I did this on account of the story of a marine being
flogged, who, when his Captain found fault with
the flogger for not doing his duty, said : ' This
man 's a-flogging me properly, and I think I knows
best ; I believe you knows Malta, and " Charley
Moore the fair thing,*' that's all I wants/
We were much in Malta in the spring of 1883.
In those days it was very fairly healthy, and its
climate, except between June and October, is very
pleasant. September is the worst month owing
to the Sirocco wind, and next to that August.
Although I often wished to be less at Malta it
yet had many social charms. In winter I much
enjoyed riding picnics to various places ; and in
summer to dine on the housetop at Mellea's at night
was very pleasant, especially when you could be
sure of driving home with the right person !
That summer we cruised much with the Fleet
under our Commander-in-Chief, Lord John Hay.
I have been amused by shore people thinking
fleet summer cruises must be delightful. As a
matter of fact they hardly can be so. The weather
is too hot, and the intention of them is to drill
and exercise as much as is practicable, and make
the fleet efficient. The short stays in port must
be much occupied by official visits and harbour
drills ; but for these and not for amusements the
229
MY NAVAL CAREER
ships are intended, and should then thus be
occupied.
But the summer cruises, and all proper squadron
cruises, are of great value. Competition is the
soul of energy ; in England we are nearly mad
about our games on shore, but from cricket, which
I consider the first of them, downwards, can you
imagine a game of any sort without competition ?
Thus is it on board ship, and thus was it especially
with rigged ships. Before the invention of steam
no one questioned the use of masts and sails be-
cause they were the legs, the life, of ships and a fleet.
Steam came ; for many years they were kept
on as faithful old friends, as stand-bys, and
perhaps for economy. But they had beyond this
a special value, viz. exercise aloft was a competitive
one that no other can compare to now, or probably
ever will. Why ? Why because every man could
see how his ship was getting on compared to the
others. And this made him, if worth his salt, throw
his heart into it.
The isolated ship, rigged ship or brig, in like
way competed mast against mast.
As that first-rate seaman, Captain McNiel Boyd,
who wrote the ' Naval Cadets' Manual,' and nobly
perished trying to save life in a gale of wind at
Kingston harbour, said, ' The romance of the sea
is buried in the coal bunkers.'
I quite understood his feehng, and ' sic parvis
componere magna,' it is the case as regards
competitive exercises ; none other as regards the
individual sailor will ever come up to exercise
aloft, for the reason given above.
230
TRIESTE AND LIVITYA
We cannot help it, times change, and we must
go with what should bring in the war indemnity.
As concerns mere physical development I con-
sider masts and sails have been much overrated,
and are not to be compared in those respects to the
ships' companies generally with the Sandow's,
Swedish and other exercises, now well known and
practised.
But I believe no modern naval officer can
conceive the excitement and emulation evoked
generally in all ships that pretended to be ' smart '
by general exercise aloft. Fatal accidents by falls,
of course, occurred at times, but the only wonder
was that they were not more frequent.
We went up the Adriatic to Trieste and visited
many places ; among them Pola, the American
Portsmouth. Nothing could exceed the kindness
and courtesy of the Austrian ladies and officers
and others. It was only in 1856 that they began
Pola as a naval arsenal, but any account of it in
1883 would be out of date now.
I also visited Livitya, the great breeding
establishment for the riding and carriage horses
of the Emperor. This was first established in
1580, with many horses from Spain. Now Arab
blood is often brought in. The horses are seldom
over 15.2, but mostly powerful animals, and often
with the very arched necks shown in pictures
by Van Dyck and Velasquez. White seems the
general colour ; I was told they are frequently born
dark, but change to white as they grow up. At
about three years old they are sent to Vienna to be
trained. I have seen them there in the Imperial
231
MY NAVAL CAREER
establishment, called the Spanish riding school,
and their performances are very remarkable.
One is to rear up with a rider on the back, and
remain for many seconds immovable, then balance
on the hind legs, I have seen pictures by
Velasquez at Madrid showing it. Another per-
formance is for the horse, with a rider, to spring up
into the air, and when there with body horizontal
to kick out with both fore and hind legs.
We went to Venice, the squadron, of course,
lying at Malomocco outside, but I will not venture
any account of the ' Spouse of the Adriatic,' as she
is too well known.
While in the Doge's Palace I met the carpenter
of my ship, a very zealous warrant officer, and
said to him, ' Well, what do you think of this
place ? ' He replied, ' I tell you what, sir, I wish
we could get the dockyard to put gilt like that
on our ship.' We visited Fiume and Mr. White-
head's famous torpedo factory ; here we are in
Hungary, and at a public dinner you must toast
the King and not the Emperor. The Hungarians
are as clannish as the Scotch, and as unmalleable
politically as the Irish.
We also went to Ancona, the port for Loretto,
and saw the Santa Casa, or holy house, that we are
assured was miraculously transported here from
Palestine. It is built of thin bricks and of
stones.
We visited the Bay of Navarino, replete with
its memories of 1827 — "that 'untoward event,'
as it was phrased in the King's speech. It is
often (if not always) easy to be wise after an
232
7V
DELPHI
event ; however, as things seemed then, and now,
I do not see that we were far wrong.
The Turk has some great quahties : courage,
sobriety, and enthusiasm for his rehgion, for
instance ; but, say what you may for him,
Mahomed II took Constantinople in 1453, but in
four and a half centuries they have never added
to the arts or sciences of the world, or joined the
European family. A Turk is, in my experience,
usually a gentleman, but seems best suited to the
days of the Arabian nights.
I went to Delphi ; it was long ago quite altered
by an earthquake, but the memory and interest
of such a place cannot fade. One can picture
the Priestess of Apollo seated on her tripod, and
her eager and credulous listeners. ' Tempora
mutantur,' but fortune-tellers, though less classical
and romantic, still exist.
Boat regattas, both sailing and rowing, were
much looked forward to and enjoyed by the
squadron ; the principal one was in the autumn, but
at that season the wind was often too light for
sailing and better for oars. Cheering boats by
the ships' companies was forbidden, but at times
they seemed irrepressible, and earned some signals
and remarks, of a mixed character !
In 1883 we had our pulling regatta in the
Gulf of Volo, and as a final summary were much
pleased to come out first as bracketed with the
Temeraire.
We visited Salonika, scripturally interesting
as having been the Thessalonica to whose people
St. Paul's Epistles were written. When we were
233
1
MY NAVAL CAREER
there half the population was said to be Jewish,
descended from Spanish Jews who fled from
Spain and came here early in the sixteenth century,
and even now they talk Spanish much among
themselves.
Near here brigands still abounded, so much so
that the authorities were afraid of our officers
going out a few miles to shoot. We went to
Thasos Island, and there had our squadron
sailing regatta. Thasos is in the north of the
Mgean Sea, and is a most attractive island. It
was the dowry of the Khedive's wife at that
time. It is beautiful and fertile, partly formed
of fine white marble, and once had both gold
and silver mines. Ruins of fortifications and other
buildings proved the importance and great pros-
perity it once possessed.
I visited Mount Athos and went over the
monastery of Batopedion, the second in size of the
twenty large ones at Athos. Besides these there
are many smaller places of retirement there, as
well as actual hermitages, the whole number of
monks lay and clerical being put at about three
thousand. Batopedion was founded in the fourth
century by Const antine the Great. From the sea
it looks like a fortified town, and is only two or
three hundred yards from the beach. It was
necessary to be protected against the raids of
pirates. The monks speak Greek among them-
selves, but a few knew English, and some other
European languages. The library has many books,
mostly in Greek. The monks were dignified and
courteous.
234
WINTER AT MALTA
Next winter was mostly spent at Malta. The
sunsets in December were quite unusual, due, it
was supposed, to the tremendous volcanic eruption
at Krakatoa, in the straits of Sunda between Java
and Sumatra in the previous August. The
astronomer's opinion was that the immense
quantity of dust then thrown up into the air took
months to settle down again, and meanwhile that
it reflected the sun's rays in a remarkable manner.
Whether or not this was the case I cannot say,
but I well remember the bright afterglows often
visible, and specially that one evening on 5th July
when a party of us were riding back to Valetta
from the west end of Malta, our horses' heads turned
to the eastward, with the full moon risen in our
faces, our shadows were plainly thrown towards the
moon, though the sun had set more than half an
hour — the idea being that the reflection from the
above dust particles caused this.
In the Xapua of Malta,' in winter, much
entertainment and gaiety goes on, but of that I
will only chronicle that we gave a ball in the
Inflexible lying in the grand harbour ; we think it
would have been a success, but hardly was every-
one on board and dancing well begun than at about
10.30 it came on to blow and rain in torrents, and
went on nearly all night. Ships' awnings cannot
stand that, and the moral seems to be ' Do not give
balls in a ship.'
We were often at Corfu, and never sorry to be
there. A Greek friend there gave me a pea-
cock and peahen, which used to roost aloft at
night, the only case I ever knew of such pets in a
235
MY NAVAL CAREER
man-of-war. I had a clever black poodle dog,
called Toby, and the Vice-Consurs wife, who was
fond of animals, was very kind to him, so he was
often at their house. One morning we arrived very
early, and the above lady's maid, who was French,
coming in to call her mistress exclaimed, * Oh
Madame, Madame, le batiment de Toby est arrive.'
Different people view things differently ; that was
her view of what we thought the most powerful
ship in our Navy.
In 1884 we again visited many places already
mentioned. We lay a short time in Suda Bay in
Candia ; it is the crater of an extinct volcano. The
Minotaur's labyrinth in Candia (or Crete) is, or
was, laid down in the Admiralty charts. Who
the hydrographer at that time was, or what the
Minotaur thought of it, history does not relate.
In August we were in Egypt, and sent our two
48-foot steam pinnaces up the Nile to assist in the
intended operations there, with two of my lieu-
tenants in command; boats and crews were alike
most useful.
We again visited Cyprus, and stayed in tents on
top of Oros Troados, which is 6500 feet high, and
the nights very cool in the middle of summer.
The natives still, I was told, have a form of worship
of the Virgin, which seems certainly to be a
continuance or relic of the cult of Astarte (Venus),
who is by classical legend supposed to have landed
at Paphos, the west end of the island, after her
birth from the foam of the sea.
Some ceremonies relating to divine maternity
here are more curious than describable.
236
CYPRUS AND EGYPT
From Nicosia we visited the mountains along
the north coast of Cyprus. Hilarion Castle was
most interesting ; it was very large, and solidly
built, covering much ground ; on the slope, but
with precipitous sides to its site, and it must have
been almost impregnable. Its history is little
known, but it seems certain that it surrendered to
our King Richard I after a siege.
The ancient Cathedral in Nicosia has long been
used by the Turks as a mosque, and it is curious to
see how the arrangements inside it have so far as
possible been turned from facing east, to south-
east in order to point towards Mecca.
Our kind hosts at Nicosia were the High
Commissioner, Sir Robert Biddulph, and his wife,
who did all that was possible to show us the many
interesting things about the island.
In October I was again in Egypt, and on one
occasion anchored in Aboukir Bay, on the site
of the Battle of the Nile. While there one morn-
ing early I landed with one of my lieutenants
on Nelson Island to shoot quail, which were
expected in their autumn flight southwards.
However, they had not arrived, so we set to work
to explore the island, and found an underground
passage, evidently very ancient. There were in-
scriptions cut on the sides of the passage, which
were a sort of hard white cement.
The passage is horizontal, running in from the
cliff about sixty feet long, terminating in what was, I
suppose, a sepulchre. It was probably an Egyptian
one, and closed up for centuries, till the cliff falling
away disclosed the passage. One inscription was
237
MY NAVAL CAREER
in Greek dated 1559, some were in Latin. The
more modern ones were 1798, first some names
of French ships and sailors, evidently Admiral
Bruey's men employed making a battery on the
island to protect his fleet ; and then others of
Nelson's ships and men, no doubt landed there
to carry off the French guns after the battle.
Attempts have been made to recover treasure
taken from Malta by the French from the wreck
of the Orient, but I believe there is little doubt it
had been removed from her before the action, in
which she was blown up.
We visited Smyrna, which might be made a
good naval port, as forts could protect it from
the fire of ships outside. I went to Ephesus,
where the ruins of the Temple of Diana justify
Byron's lines, * Its ruins strew the wilderness
and dwell the hyena and the jackal in its shade' ;
but I cannot grant that the noble bard ' beheld
the Ephesian miracle,' which had then long
since ceased to stand, and its very site when dis-
covered in 1870 was more than fifteen feet
under ground.
Smyrna is a great place to buy Turkish and
Persian carpets, the stores of them are immense ;
but you hardly ever see a new one — at least they
are rare. I am told the Americans are great
purchasers of the very old ones.
I should like to enlarge much more on my
Mediterranean experiences, but must not do so,
in consideration for my kind readers. We re-
turned to Malta the end of 1884, and early in
1885 were ordered home.
238
APPOINTMENTS OF THE INFLEXIBLE
The Inflexible had an unusual fitting called
a ' rolling chamber.' This was a strong water-
tight compartment running across the ship from
side to side. It was to be about a third to a half
filled with water, the theory being that as the
ship rolled, the water trying to keep its level, of
course, moved also, but was not quick enough
to keep pace with the motion of the ship, and
thus resisted the return roll and so reduced it.
The operation made a great noise, and was some-
what of a strain on the ship, but it did check
the rolling a little.
Since armoured vessels were first invented,
say in i860, by the building of the French ship
La Gloire, their variations have been endless.
The Inflexible was our first echelon turret-ship,
the idea, of course, being to fire all the heavy guns,
either ahead or astern; in her case this proved
a complete failure.
It was never tried in her till we were coming
home, when I got leave from the Admiralty to
do so. The results were surprising, and alarm-
ing. I will not enter into details, but merely
say that only one gun of the after — starboard —
turret, fired with a reduced charge 75° before the
beam, rendered the port turret and armoured
conning place untenable, and shook the fore-
mast funnel so that had I continued the experi-
ments, as permitted at my discretion, it would
probably have come down.
It is curious that a ship should have been
designed to do what she so evidently could
not.
239
MY NAVAL CAREER
All modern ships soon fall out of date ; the
old Victory was forty-one years old at Trafalgar
and then considered the finest ship in the Fleet ;
the Inflexible when she left Portsmouth for the
Mediterranean had cost about a million pounds,
and twenty-five years afterwards she was sold
for ;f25,ooo.
I left the Mediterranean with real regret,
very sorry to leave the station, and to part
from my Admiral, Lord John Hay, and many
friends all round the ' Midland Ocean ' ; also
to pay off my grand ship, and leave aai excellent
set of officers and a good ship's company. •
We were paid off at Portsmouth, I having
myself been nearly five years on actual sea
service, and four and a half years from
England.
I think the present rule of the Admiralty to
limit commissions to only two years is a great
mistake ; there is a happy medium in all things,
and that is about three years for a ship's com-
mission. It takes some months for officers and
men to shake down and really know the ship and
each other.
On the other hand I allow that four or five
years are too long, and for more than one reason :
first that people get tired of each other, as I
myself have seen ; and, second, that it is hard on
married men, either officers or ship's company,
to keep them so long from their wives and families.
I am for the three years' commission.
By me foreign service has always been much
preferred to that at home ; abroad your ship
240
LENGTH OF COMMISSIONS
is your home, and everyone feels that. In
England, too many are only wondering when
they can get away on leave.
When I entered the service I believe only a
quarter, certainly not more than one-third, of the
service afloat in the sea-going ships were on the
home station — the rest were on foreign service;
now it is the opposite. This is for reasons which
I need not state, as they are evident, and just
now it must be so.
241
CHAPTER XIX
CAPTAIN—H.M.S. 0/?£GOJV— CAPTAIN
Trial of the Oregon — ^Manoeuvres — Admiralty Committee.
I WENT to live in London, which then for many
years became my home, when not employed by
service away from it, and London is, perhaps, the
best residence for an of&cer anxious for success
in his career, as he is in the centre of intelligence,
and can if he likes benefit in many ways thereby.
In April I went to stay for a time in Paris,
but came home suddenly, because war between
us and Russia seemed to be imminent and I
knew I should get a ship. On leaving Paris I
took leave of my friend Admiral Conrad at the
French Admiralty, who talked disinterestedly of
the prospect, the French and Russian Alliance not
then existing.
The war ' scare ' soon passed off ; but while
it lasted the Admiraltv had decided to commission
as a man-of-war the Oregon, a Cunard Atlantic
liner, and at that time the largest one. My
cousin. Admiral Sir Michael Culme Seymour, was
to have hoisted his flag in her, to command a
special fast squadron in case of the war.
242
#•■
C!3
a
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O
O
s
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00
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en
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CONVERTING A LINER TO A BATTLESHIP
My cousin had had the Oregon's mizzen-mast-
head fitted with a semaphore, the first thing of
the kind aloft on a mast, and very useful it
proved. To fit her as a cruiser over a hundred
cabins had been destroyed to provide coal armour
for the engines. The decks had been strengthened
as required to mount the guns, and magazines,
and shell rooms were fitted below and lighted
by electricity. An attempt was made to protect
her steering gear, and other details were attended
to. But you cannot make a good fighting ship
of a fast modern passenger mail steamer ; it is
not possible.
Now as the Oregon had been got ready they
wished her tried, and selected me to do it.
I arranged about officers and men, and went
to Liverpool and commissioned her. She looked
to me a monster, and she was so then, being
nearly considered what the Olympic is thought
now. Everything in this world is comparative,
and no one can guess what ships will be like half
a century hence, of course supposing that flying
machines, &c., have not superseded them.
I kept the first and second officers and all
of the engineers, having a naval one as my staff
officer. The rest of the officers and men were
all naval except the stokers. These I entered
at Liverpool, and a queer lot they were. I put
them to live in the third-class passenger saloon,
which from their usual quarters was much like
removing a dog from its kennel to the drawing-
room. The}?- were also clothed with two suits
of sailor's clothes, and really at times they were
243 R2
MY NAVAL CAREER
clean, for the first time probably. They had
not been twenty-four hours in the ship when I
was told they all insisted on leaving her. But
on being made to fall in on deck and confronted
with Marines with fixed bayonets and ball cart-
ridge, order was restored.
I read the Articles of War — with much unction
— and with subsequent good result. One of
their own engineers was told off to look after
them; he had to see their hammocks up in the
morning. One day a stoker would not turn
out, and the engineer lowered his hammock down.
Fearful language ensued, but no report would
have been made had not the stoker remembered
that profane oaths, &c., were contrary to the
articles of war, and said he would report the
engineer for using them ; the engineer then
remembered that ' to strike or offer to strike '
your superior officer was a dire offence, the
stoker having shaken his fist in his face ; so
both repaired to the quarter-deck, and I fear
both my Commander and myself were amused at
the proceedings, though I hope we did not show it.
The Oregon was 520 feet long between per-
pendiculars, with a single screw and a very small
rudder. Her displacement was about 12,500
tons ; the largest in the Navy then being the
Inflexible (about 10,000). I measured her circles
very carefully at sea in calm weather : her ' tacti-
cal diameter' was 2000 vards, i.e. about a sea
mile.
Perhaps I should explain to lay readers that
this means, that if she was steering north, and
244
* TACTICAL DIAMETERS '
you put her helm hard over — either way — the
distance from the ship's beam at the moment of
putting the helm over, to her beam when her
head became south, i.e. when she had turned
a half circle, would if measured east and west
be 2000 yards. Ordinary men-of-war's tactical
diameters are usually about one-third of that,
some much less ; though there have been great
exceptions, and I have been told on good authority
that the tactical diameters of the Warrior and
Black Prince, two of our earliest ironclad ships,
were about 1400 yards.
Of course this turning question is now all
quite modified and improved by having twin
screws to use for it, if necessary. This extreme
unhandiness matters comparatively little to an
Atlantic liner, because she only runs on a rail, as
it were, from Liverpool to New York and back ;
and if required to make any sharp turns in or
out of harbour, can get a tug to help her. Whereas
a man-of-war never knows what may be required,
and with no help.
I used when weighing in narrow waters, with
the Oregon's head the wrong way, to snub her
bow round with the cable before lifting the
anchor, but it is ticklish work not to snap the
cable.
We went first to Portland, and from there
to Plymouth, and Gibraltar, and to join the flag
of Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby at Berehaven.
This was a large squadron assembled for the
first regular summer manoeuvres.
Admiral Hornby was at the time Commander-
245
MY NAVAL CAREER
in-Chief at Portsmouth, so this employment of
him was very exceptional.
At Berehaven the squadron made two booms
of a vast number of spars lashed together, one
across the eastern entrance to the anchorage,
and one across the western one. Steel wire
hawsers were also employed.
Boat attacks were made and failed, but I
only wish to mention that afterwards the Poly-
phemus, a special vessel made chiefly to act as a
ram, charged the eastern boom at her full speed,
say seventeen knots. It was an interesting trial.
I was watching carefully and considered that the
boom bent a good deal and brought the ship's
way up to about only a third of it, and then the
steel wire hawsers, two parts of 5|--inch wire,
parted, the boom broke in two, and the ship
got by unhurt.
From Berehaven we went to Blacksod Bay
on the west coast of Ireland, and in Co. Mayo ; a
real out-of-the-way place, fit only for a manoeuv-
ring squadron. Here the Fleet was divided into
two sides. One, the enemy, were to try and get
into the Clyde, and the other, the defence being
more powerful, to stop them if they caught them.
We were the defence, and when our squadron
went on were left outside Blacksod Bay, to
report when the enemy, our attackers, left it.
There ensued a very dark night, and raining
hard, during which the enemy, with no lights
burning, chanced it, and got to sea without our
seeing them. When daylight dawned we found
it out, and our speed being much greater than
246
LINERS AS CRUISERS
any otJier ship present, enabled us to overtake and
inform our Admiral.
Finally the attack failed, their ships being
seen in the narrow north channel, between the
Mull of Cantyre and Fair Head, the north-east
point of Ireland.
Since then we have had — as is known — many
manoeuvres, summer and otherwise. No doubt
they are useful, give much experience to those
commanding them, and are a cause of thinking
out defence and attack problems, that without
them would not be well considered. Soon after
the above cruise it was felt the Oregon had been
sufficiently tested as a cruiser, and I paid her off
at Liverpool, and handed her back to the Cunard
Company.
As regards the question of employing such
vessels as man-of-war cruisers in war time, my
opinion is as follows :
Advantages :
1. Owing to their great speed they could
escape from most men-of-war, and have the
best chance of catching the enemy's mail
steamers or merchant ships.
2. They would be at once available as
somewhat armed troopships.
Disadvantages :
I. You cannot make them decent fighting
ships, for two great reasons, viz. that both
their steering gear and engines are too
unprotected.
247
MY NAVAL CAREER
2. They are not handy enough for men-of-
war's needs. Turbine engines are much lower
down and so minimise one of the above faults,
but a mail steamer as a good fighting ship
is an impossibility.
I was now on half-pay for nine months. For
a time I was Chairman of an Admiralty Committee
to revise naval officers' titles, and readjust the
shares of prize money.
A discussion of the above would be tedious
to the general reader ; though on the former I
could make many remarks. As regards the latter,
the great. days of prize money are probably gone
for ever ; when for instance Captain Digby made
;f6o,ooo one morning. i The proportions of prize
money must, I suppose, always remain as of old,
when before the battle the seaman knelt down,
and prayed that the shot also might be allotted in
proportion to the prize money.
I otherwise filled up my time partly by trips
to France, sometimes staying in Touraine, a part
of the country I am very fond of, and advise
others to visit, as I have before said.
* This remarkable story of his being three times told when
asleep in his cot to alter his course, and doing so with the result
of meeting the Spanish treasure galleons at dayUght, was told
me by one of his family as a fact quite accepted by them as true.
248
CHAPTER XX
FLAG-CAPTAIN— NAVAL RESERVES
The old Victory — The Queen's Jubilee — ^Naval Manoeuvres —
Submarine Boat — Earl St. Vincent — Portsmouth — Naval
Reserves — Coastguard — Heligoland — The Hearty and
her Cat — Coal Pit — The Forth Bridge— Stornoway —
Shetland.
In May 1886 I returned to England to become
Flag-captain to Admiral Sir George WiUes at
Portsmouth. He was my captain when I was a
lieutenant in China in two ships, and was a strict
and very capable officer, and well up in all service
matters.
The Admiral's flag flew in the Duke of Welling-
ton and the old Victory played only the humble
role of tender to us. She was of course under my
care, and a more rotten ship than she had become
probably never flew the pennant. I could literally
run my walking stick through her sides in many
places, and her upper works were mostly covered
by a waterproof coat of painted canvas.
One night they called me with the news that
the Victory was sinking. We, of course, hurried
on board her, and got all available pumps to work ;
249
MY NAVAL CAREER
with the result that we kept her afloat, till she
could be put into a dry dock, where she was prac-
tically a good deal rebuilt, and will now I think
go on as required for many years.
I must here remark d propos of the old Victory,
that the recent idea of restoring her to look as
much as possible as she was at the Battle of
Trafalgar should be carried out. The late
Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, Sir Arthur
Fanshawe, took much interest in this, and did
what he could towards it. The expense of doing
what would make a great show would, I believe, be
only a few thousand pounds.
Mr. Maxim, now Sir Hiram, brought his
automatic machine gun to Whale Island to be
tested ; he let me work it at one time and said to
me : ' You see, sir, you can set this gun going,
then go into a house and have a gin sling, and
come out and find a hundred men lying dead
in the avenue.'
The duties of flag-captain at Portsmouth were
very varied, but not onerous. Putting out fires
even on shore came into them, and very useful our
men were on one or two occasions. A real seaman
is useful everywhere, and has well earned his name
of the ' Handy man.'
I went to inspect the Naval Prison at Lewes,
and found out that the young active seaman,
with a good appetite, prefers hard labour, with more
food, to its alternative. At that time the service
was a good deal * sheep ' and ' goats * ; the former
to become seamen, gunners, &c., went to the
Excellent, while the ' goats ' came to me ; and
250
QUEEN VICTORIA'S JUBILEE
acted according to their title. Leave-breaking
was the most common offence, and for this stoppage
of pay was the most effective restraining measure.
In 1887 was the Queen's Jubilee. As an official
I had a place in Westminster Abbey, and think I
never felt a more affecting sensation than when
her Majesty walked down the aisle, while ' God
save the Queen ' was sung. It was difficult for
anyone to keep from tears.
Of course people differ immeasurably in their
love — as in their knowledge — of music, but I
believe it has an effect on the nerves of the brain
in everyone. I have seen a dog sit up and howl
when a musical instrument was played close to
him ; this, however, is perhaps departing from
the sublime, and not a compliment to the
player.
The Queen's Jubilee of 1887 I think stirred the
nation more than that of 1897, because it was
much more of a novelty to everyone ; few remem-
bering 1810 ! Our Queen, too, was able herself to
play a more prominent part.
I commissioned my old ship the Inflexible for
the Jubilee review and subsequent naval man-
oeuvres ; we first went to Portland to shake down
into order, and then to Spithead for the review.
At Portland I went over the convict prison there ;
it boasts having hardly ever had an escape from
it, but a French prisoner once got clear away, it is
thought by boat.
The Chief Warder amused us by lamenting the
decline of the apparent popularity of the pro-
fession of convict. He said also that the long-
251
MY NAVAL CAREER
sentence ones look down on the short-sentence
prisoners as an inferior order of beings.
At Spithead on 19th July the Queen passed
through the Fleet on her way to Osborne, being
received with full honours ; and I believe with the
officers in full dress (on her Majesty passing in her
yacht), for the first time since the death of the
Prince Consort.
The Crown Prince and Princess — afterwards the
Emperor Frederick and his Empress — with their
three daughters, came on board my ship quite sud-
denly one day to see her. Nothing could exceed
their natural charm and pleasant graciousness,
especially that of the Crown Princess, who went
round all the principal parts of the ship with me.
We now became flagship of Sir George Willes
for the review, which took place on 23rd July.
The Queen passed through the lines in her yacht,
and then anchored for all the admirals and captains
to come on board and be presented to her ; and in
the evening the whole Fleet was illuminated,
and had fireworks. This is a matter much better
done now, owing to our improved electric lighting
system.
After this all the ships went to sea for a cruise ;
that was followed by manoeuvres, the idea being
that the defending fleet was to prevent the other
from entering the Channel and passing up to the
mouth of the Thames, which they did, and so won.
The Inflexible was soon after this paid off again,
and I rejoined the Duke of Wellington,
In 1887 I went to Southampton to see Mr.
Nordenfelt's submarine torpedo-boat, quite a
252
THE FIRST SUBMARINE TORPEDO-BOAT
novelty to me then. She was of steel, in shape a
cylinder, quite round amidships and elongated at
the ends. She was 125 feet long and her greatest
diameter 12 feet ; she was of 190 tons displace-
ment. To sink her, forty tons of water were let
in, added to which two down-driving horizontal
screws when at work kept her under water. She
was propelled by a single screw, and could go
under water twenty miles at five knots, having a
reserve of steam from a special boiler : this we were
TOLD. She had two torpedo-tubes in the bow, one
over the other. She must be kindly regarded as
the forerunner or parent of the present submarine.
The Sailors' Home in Portsea was much en-
larged while I was there. I was ex-officio Chairman
of the Committee, and gave a cabin to it to be
called the St. Vincent cabin, as I have great
admiration for that iron-willed disciplinarian, who
kept down the seamen's mutiny in his own fleet
in 1797 off Cadiz. The story is shortly as
follows :
H.M.S. Marlborough had just joined the fleet
from home, a mutiny had broken out on board her,
and a court martial had condemned a seaman
to be hanged for it. Her Captain then told
Lord St. Vincent that his ship's company would
not permit the man to be hanged on board that
ship, or at least that his own crew would not do
it. The Admiral replied that the man should be
hanged at eight o'clock the next morning, and
only by his own shipmates.
General orders were then given for the Marl-
borough to be anchored in the middle of the fleet,
253
MY NAVAL CAREER
her guns to be run in and her gun ports closed and
secured. Armed boats from all the other ships
were placed in position to rake her with their fire,
and to sink her if required, which the other ships
should assist in doing. At 7.30 a.m. next day all
hands in the fleet were turned up to witness the
execution.
The excitement was great, but at eight o'clock
when a gun was fired from the Ville de Paris, Lord
St. Vincent's flagship, the man was triced up to
the yardarm of the Marlborough by his own
shipmates and hanged, and ' The Earl ' (as Nelson
usually called him) then said, ' Discipline is pre-
served.' It is in my opinion among the finest
episodes in our Navy. And is not this real praise
of Earl St. Vincent ? — ' that he was the tutor of
Nelson, he taught and formed him — he made him
greater than himself, and then did not envy him.' 1
The great form of Nelson, whose meteor-like
career closed with a bright additional blaze at
Trafalgar, has eclipsed the fame of all other
naval officers. But for solid service rendered to
his country, both at sea and on shore, in days of
difiiculty, and periods of peril, the name of St.
Vincent must to those who study naval history
always stand forth prominently.
But I must not linger longer at Portsmouth,
which place perhaps many look on only as the
best known, or most visited by tourists, of our
naval ports. Its history, however, is of much
interest, without going back to the Roman times,
about which details are doubtful. I believe the
^ See Tucker's Life of the Earl St. Vincent, vol. ii. p. 252.
254
NAVAL RESERVE OFFICES
fortifications were begun in the reign of Edward III.
The oldest dock is the one near the Admiral-Super-
intendent's ofiice.
I was next appointed Captain, assistant to
the Admiral-Superintendent of Naval Reserves.
I was sorry to leave my Admiral at Ports-
mouth, and loath to leave all that was sea-hfe
about it ; but I felt that short of going to sea,
which is always the best thing, a new experi-
ence was desirable. I have often felt that you
rarely know really what you have learnt in a given
phase of your life, because you forget how much
less you knew when you began it.
In December 1887 I took up my new appoint-
ment, the Naval Reserve offices being in Spring
Gardens, but the house is now destroyed. They
were very old fashioned and barely sanitary.
The inspections of the Coastguard stations
from the head office in London are made mostly by
the Admiral-Superintendent himself; it happened,
however, while I was there as captain that, owing
to an accident to the Admiral, I had to make a good
many inspections, and among them to visit and
inspect Heligoland, which then belonged to us.
Since our acquisition of it, from Denmark in
1807, we had not taken much trouble either to
fortify it or make a harbour. It is very small, only
three-quarters of a square mile in area, and is
mostly a small high plateau off which the frequent
strong winds threaten to blow the unwary pedes-
trian. Fishing was its chief industry, and about
30,000 lobsters have been got in the summer
255
MY NAVAL CAREER
months ; and probably eaten also, by the 15,000
German visitors who came to bathe there.
No doubt it is very healthy — the wind I suppose
blows the ubiquitous microbe away ; the average
human life was said to be 63 years, but whether
it was worth while to live in such a monotonous
place in order to eke out one's life is a question.
The Governor said it was a sort of Teuton Gretna
Green ; ardent couples running over from the
Continent to be married at the Lutheran Church
here.
Germany is, of course, making it a war station,
which we should never have done. H.M.S. Hearty
conveyed me there and back. She was built for a
river Hoogly tugboat. The officers' accommo-
dation was right forward, in the bows, and the
men were aft.
Coming back we had a gale of wind in our
teeth, the ship pitched heavily, and every officer
but the captain was down with sea sickness,
I for one. In the Hearty they had a cat, about
which the following story was told, and vouched
for by both officers and men.
The ship was lying in the harbour and the tide
was out; it was a Sunday about 11 a.m., when a
cat was seen to walk down to the shore abreast
of the ship, unpursued by persons or dogs, wade
through the mud, take to the water, and swim
off to the Hearty, where it, of course, received a
welcome worthy of the ship's name, and joined
the crew.
Travelling along the north-east coast of Eng-
land and east of Scotland in a snowy winter, I
256
FORTH BRIDGE
was kept at Sunderland by the snow and went
down the Monkswearmouth coal pit. It is 1800
feet deep and runs out under the sea ; at its ex-
tremity there is a large pool of water which is
three times as salt as the sea, from evaporation of
course. The thermometer was about 90° in the
mine, and the contrast to it on the surface, covered
with frozen snow, from which you descended in
one and a half minutes, was great. I came to
the conclusion that if I had to be a labouring man
at Sunderland, I would be miner in winter and
fisherman in summer.
The wonderful Forth Railway cantilever bridge
was being built when I was there; they showed
me over it, and let me walk over the highest parts
of the piers, 370 feet above the water. They said
six million rivets were driven in the bridge. The
rails have to be ' tongued ' to allow of the expan-
sion and contraction, for changes of temperature,
and where the spans join fifteen inches as an
extreme has to be allowed for. I asked how
many fatal accidents had occurred to the work-
men : but that was a secret.
The then recent terrible accident to a train
on the Tay Bridge made one apprehensive about
the effect of a very strong wind on so exposed a
structure, but of this they had no fear. Experi-
ments made had shown that the presence of wind
is happily not uniform over a large area, but that
the wind currents are restricted to small surface
spaces, and differ a good deal, as pressing on a
large perpendicular erection. Thus a wind gauge
might show a pressure of wind at one spot much
257 s
MY NAVAL CAREER
in excess of what another a very few feet off
showed at the same moment. As an instance
of this, a large gauge of 300 square feet area showed
a maximum average pressure of only 27 lbs. on the
square foot ; while a small gauge, near to, showed
at the same moment a pressure of 41 lbs.
On the shore on the north side of the bridge,
it was curious to see how the sloping field, on which
an embankment had to be made, had given way and
been turned from a smooth slope to a sort of ridge
and furrow, as the weight of earth was put on to it.
My duty was, of course, to inspect the Coast-
guard, and the Royal Naval Reserve Batteries.
I went on North, now and then in a sleigh, and
crossed Scotland, then under snow from Inverness
to Strome Ferry ; most people only know it in the
autumn, but in its winter coat it looks most like
' Caledonia stern and wild,' &c. Then on by a
small steamer to Stornoway, where the Matheson
family have spent so much money on the ungrateful
' Crofters.' The Hebrides certainly produce for
their size a numerous population of fine-looking
people, but I have great doubts about the Naval
Reserve men there being of much practical value
to us.
A crofter's hut is a wretched hovel, with an iU-
thatched roof ; inside one half is occupied by cattle
and fowls, the floor is the natural earth, one door
for both bipeds and quadrupeds, a turf fire in the
middle, no chimney, a chain from the roof to
hang the cooking-pot on, bed places in bunks at
the sides. Then many of the older people only
spoke Gaelic, but this was likely to change.
258
ORKNEYS AND SHETLAND
I visited the Orkneys and Shetland Islands
to inspect. They are, of course, dreary in winter,
as this was, but except that the length of the
days, of course, varies more than in lower latitudes,
there is really not so much change from summer
to winter as regards the temperature as with us,
because the sea and the gulf stream affect that
so much.
Shetland shawls, &c., are, of course, well
known and liked. The sheep they are made
from have very fine fleeces, and their wool (or hair
you may almost call it) is plucked from them
and not shorn. They are smaller than South-
down sheep, and of various colours ; I have seen
black, white and grey ones.
In July 1889 I was promoted to the rank
of Rear-Admiral and therefore placed on half-
pay. I was forty-nine years old and had been
a captain for about sixteen and a half years.
Now officers are less than ten years captain.
259
S2
CHAPTER XXI
REAR-ADMIRAL
France — Russia — Caspian Sea — Caucasus — Taganrog — Sevas-
topol — Odessa.
It was quite uncertain when — if ever — I should
be employed and hoist my flag, so I had to con-
sider how best to occupy myself. First I went
to France, and moving about in Brittany visited
Brest and L' Orient.
Brest is certainly a first-class naval port, by
nature. It is so thoroughly sheltered from the
sea and from the enemy by its long ' Goulet.' I
got into one of their signal stations, then very
superior to ours.
While staying at Trez Hir, with some rela-
tions, we visited the Isle of Ushant. Of the two
lighthouses one was electric, and one not; we
were told that the latter — not electric — best
penetrated a fog.
I went to see my old Port Said friend Admiral
Conrad, who was Port Admiral at L'Orient, and
he told me of the following sad and curious
occurrence.
A picnic party of both sexes went to have
z6o
TOUR IN RUSSIA
dejeuner on the sea-shore near there, at a place
where the nearly flat sand had some large rocks
scattered about on it. The tide was low, the
day fine.
Preparing their food they found themselves
short of something — say, water — and one of the
party went off to the nearest house to get it. On
his return he could not find his friends. At
first he thought they had as a joke hidden behind
the rocks ; but at last the terrible truth appeared,
viz. that an abnormal wave^ — one of those most
wrongly called ' tidal ' — had broken on the beach,
and had overwhelmed and drowned them aU.
One often now hears such waves reported as
being met with at sea — ' seismic ' would be a
good name for them ; they are, I suppose, caused
either by submarine volcanoes or earthquakes.
I had long wished to visit Russia, and in
August left with a cousin to do so. We crossed
to Flushing and went on by rail to Petersburg.
I think the three impressions one must form of
Russia are : its space, its solitude, and its sadness.
Petersburg is too well known for me to describe
it. I dined with our Ambassador, Sir Robert
Morier, and for the first time saw the Russian
custom of ' Zakousca,' i.e. that on entering the
dining-room you take your partner first to the
sideboard, where caviare, dried fish, strong
drinks, vodka, &c., await you as a preparation
for dinner.
We visited Cronstadt and I refreshed my
memory about the Baltic War in 1854-5. I
believe that in 1854 the allied fleets could have
261
MY NAVAL CAREER
attacked Cronstadt on its in-shore side with good
chance of success.
I was told that in 1854 the Emperor, watching
one of our steamers reconnoitring on that side,
said : ' She will soon run aground on the barrier
I have had put to prevent attack on that side/
She did not because it had not been put, though
paid for. Next winter it was put, and the condi-
tions were altered.
We stayed at the Hotel de France, and there
got a Russian who spoke French as our courier,
in place of an impostor from London. Beyond
Petersburg a knowledge of Russian or an inter-
preter was necessary to travellers.
I was much interested at seeing, and having
described to me on the spot, the murder of the
Czar Alexander II in 1881. He was driving
along the quay of a canal in Petersburg in a
brougham with one A.D.C., when a man threw
a bomb at the carriage ; the bomb burst between
the hind wheels and the shock unseated the
Emperor and his A.D.C., but did not hurt them
or disable the carriage.
The coachman pulled up and the occupants
got out. The would-be assassin was seized. The
coachman said, ' If your Majesty will get in I can
drive you to the Palace,' but the Czar decided to
walk. He had not gone many yards when a
man leaning against the low parapet darted
forward and flung a bomb at the Emperor's
feet, which burst and mortally wounded him, the
assassin being also killed by it. And this was
the end of Alexander the liberator of the serfs.
262
MOSCOW
I think the equestrian statue of Peter the Great,
his horse treading on a snake, as spirited as any
I know.
We went to Moscow, by the Hne made nearly
straight in obedience to H.M. Nicholas's route
as drawn out with a ruler on the map. Peters-
burg is half Russian, half French, but Moscow is
Moscov. One should regard it from the Sparrow
Hills, on its south-west side, and think of Napoleon
doing so in 1812, and his army shouting for joy,
not guessing what would follow.
The Kremlin is, of course, the chief attraction,
and it is there you are impressed with the Asiatic
characteristics of Russia. Here among other
trophies are some of our field-pieces taken from
the Turks in the Crimea in 1854. There are
some 700 guns of various other nations.
The great foundling hospital in Moscow is
interesting. It was instituted by Catherine II
in 1763 to check infanticide. All babies are
received ; it had about iioo children when I was
there. In the wards some very delicate infants
were in hot boxes, reminding one of incubators
for hens' eggs. During Napoleon's occupation
in 1812 it still went on, and some of his orders
are shown you. Moscow is very noisy, both on
account of its many bells and the stony
streets.
The Russians are a very religious nation ; for
one thing it is striking to see the droskhy drivers
taking off their hats or crossing themselves on
passing certain sacred spots or pictures. The
Russian riding school at Moscow impressed me;
263
MY NAVAL CAREER
it is said to have been, when built, the largest
area building, unsupported inside. It is 560 feet
long by 158 feet wide. In every shop is an icon,
in respect to which you should take off your hat
on entering.
We went on to Nijni Novgorod, where the
great annual fair everyone has heard of was in
progress. Here you see men and costumes from
many parts of Asia, and the most extraordinary
contrasts of goods for sale, Persian carpets in
the same stall side by side with English toys,
such as Ally Sloper, and men on bicycles. The
contrast struck me as sad somehow, rather than
ludicrous. At our hotel here none of the ofhcials
or servants spoke anything but Russian, and
this we found the case at many other places.
We left Nijni in the Grand Duke Vladimir, a
steamer of the Caucasus and Mercury Steamship
Company, to descend the Volga to Astrakhan.
She was a paddle-wheel vessel 280 feet long,
speed nearly 12 knots ; burnt oil, i.e. the refuse
of naphtha after petroleum had been extracted
from it. It was my first experience of such fuel,
but now we are used to it. This came, of course,
from Baku.
The stokehold surprised me — clean and quiet ;
and to take in fuel a trough was placed sloping
down to the ship's tanks, and a liquid like chocolate
ran down till the tanks v/ere full — no labour,
no noise, no dirt. Luxurious ! There were few
passengers, but much card-playing. The captain
was a retired naval officer.
The Volga has many shoals ; soundings were
264
ON THE VOLGA— ASTRAKHAN
got by a man with a long pole in the bows ; the
Russian fathom is the same as ours.
One of our fellow-passengers was an artillery
officer who had served in Sevastopol during the
siege ; he was then a gunner only, and was pro-
moted from the ranks. He told me General
Todleben often visited his ' Bastion/ and had a
habit of asking the opinion of the men about
matters concerning the battery, guns, embrasures,
&c., to see if they could give him valuable hints.
The scenery on the Volga is not as a rule
beautiful. You see much timber growing on
both banks, too much for beauty.
We stopped at many places, the principal being
Kazan (a town of 140,000 people), Saratov, and
Tsaritzin. At these places you get an idea of
what Russia is like. I have seen towns with the
streets fifty yards wide and more, but left in their
natural state ; one can imagine what traffic and
rain make them like, and see why Russians as
a rule wear long boots, coming up to their knees.
At Astrakhan we changed steamers to one
called the Constantine. Astrakhan is a flourish-
ing place, about fifty- three miles from the Caspian ;
the town was lighted with electric light, then
very rare in England. There were many camels,
covered with long hair, and much handsomer
than any I had ever before seen.
We went down the Caspian to Baku, of which
place you can smell the oil two or three miles
off. It was very hot when we got there ; the
very streets might be said to be * watered ' with
oil, and the sea was covered with a good film of
265
MY NAVAL CAREER
it — in a calm I believe you could light up the
surface. I bathed in it, and when one came up
after diving in, one had a cheap oil dressing on
one's hair. The^oil ' wells/ or rather oil fountains,
look like trees of chocolate, and the froth like
milk.
The ground is soaked with oil, which is said to
be very good for chest complaints. Sometimes
these fountains catch fire, and they must be left
to burn out — a great loss of money. I was told
that three years before one caught fire and burnt
for three days, its flames rising to 900 feet : a
splendid sight to all but its owners.
The Caspian is about 83 feet below the level of
the Black Sea, and is, I believe, getting lower.
Its water is brackish, but not nearly so salt as
the ocean.
From Baku we went by train to Tiflis. All the
locomotive engines about here burn oil. Tiflis,
the capital of Georgia, is very picturesque, in an
accentuated way — that is, with ravines and
precipices. We arrived just in time for the
opening of the Exhibition of Caucasus produc-
tions by the Grand Duke Michael, so the town
was en fete ; but at any time it would excite
interest compared to most other places.
From Tiflis we drove across the Caucasus range
to Vladikafkas. The scenery is very fine. One
afternoon we encountered the heaviest hail-
storm I ever saw ; stones three-quarters of an inch
across were very plentiful, and I picked up one, half
an hour after it fell, that was bj^- measurement
over one and a half inches across.
266
ROSTOV AND TAGANROG
At Vladikafkas we took the train to Rostov
on the Don. In the middle of the night at a
station the train was attacked by brigands who
shot the engine-driver, and carried off a sum of
money known to be in the train, but did not rob
the passengers.
Rostov has a population of 70,000, but though
we tried we could see very little of it, as a very
bad dust storm was blowing, the worst, I think,
I have experienced except in North China.
Next we visited Taganrog on the Sea of Azov,
in the ' fragrant gardens ' of which Alexander I is
reported to have died in 1825. The death chamber
is said to be much as then ; we saw it, and an
old grandfather clock, not going, which is supposed
to have stopped when the Czar died.
Herein the Cathedral we saw the ensign of H.M.
Gunboat Jasper, lost near here in the war in 1855.
Our Consul, Mr. W. G. Wagstaffe, who was a
naval officer, had been many years here, and
spoke Russian perfectly. He believes that the
Sea of Azov has a double bottom, as suggested
off Port Said.i I believe this sea is certainly
getting shallower steadily.
The climate of Taganrog is trying, very hot
in summer, and with bitter cold winds from the
east in winter ; it is almost incredible how much
milder the south of the Crimea is, and only 350
miles off.
We left by steamer for Kertch, and with us was
a man in deep mourning with his two small sons,
about whom I was told this story by our Consul.
^ See page 227.
267
MY NAVAL CAREER
In the Taganrog Club, at baccara one night
he lost £25,000, also his town house and his
countrj^ house. He was nearly mad, and then
staked his wife, a young and pretty woman, and
lost again. He then by agreement had to give
his latch-key to the winner, and not himself go
home. The winner went there, but roused the
servants, insisted on seeing the lady, told her
the story and left the house. The wife became
ill and shortly died.
From Kertch we went to Yalta, the Russian
Riviera, a delightful place with first-class hotels.
We visited the Czar's domain at Livadia, and
went on to Sevastopol. It seemed to me very
odd, with my former experience, to be quietly
staying in this place in an hotel, which had
actually been the house of Admiral Nachimoff,
and in which he died after being struck with a
piece of shell on the Malakoff.
We spent several days here, and visited the
neighbourhood. Our Consul, Captain Harford,
was most kind and useful. He had been over
twenty years Consul here, and was so fond of
the Russians that in 1878 he resigned his
commission and joined them in their war
against Turkey. After that war was over our
Government reinstated him as Consul.
The Russian Government gave General Todle-
ben a house in Sevastopol, which he presented to
the town, and it is now a museum of the siege.
In it you may see plans and models of the forts,
bastions, and lines, of the place during the great
siege, together with endless interesting relics.
268
SEVASTOPOL
I have known many Russian officers, and seldom
one unwilling to talk of the defence of that place,
of which they are very justly proud.
Count Tolstoy's work called ' Sevastopol ' is
most graphic in its descriptions of life in the
town during the siege, and Russian officers then
there, to whom I have talked, agree to its
correctness. In these long-range gun-fire daj'-s
that place shares the fault of Malta, and other
sea garrisons.
As regards the climate of Sevastopol, the two
winters of the Crimean War were very exception-
ally cold. Captain Harford said he had never, if
at all, seen one like those, he having also been
there during the siege.
On 17th October, early, I swam about the har-
bour till tired, not cold ; and I could never do
that in the sea in England in October.
When the Russian officers heard I had been in
action on the first day of the actual siege, viz. our
17th October (then their 5th) they invited me to
stay and take part in the regular celebrations,
and I accepted.
On the morning of the day we went to a
service in the crypt of the Church of St. Vladimir,
which has been built as a memorial of the siege, and
in the crypt is the tomb of the four Admirals —
Lazaref, Cornilov, Nachimoff and Istomin ; the
three last were all killed on the Malakoff during
the siege. 1
1 The Malakoff is Bastion No. 2 of Tolstoy's book. The
bastions were numbered in order from one on the Russian left
next to the Grand Harbour.
269
MY NAVAL CAREER
The banquet was in the drawing-room of the
Naval Club, the only dinner ever held in that
room, and only officers who were in action on the
first day could attend it. Our Consul had fought
in the siege, but his regiment did not arrive
till after the 17th, so he could not come.
It was a curious experience, I representing the
enemy ; we sat down fourteen in number. One said :
' At this date and hour, in 1854, I remember this
room full of wounded and dying men.' I was the
youngest ; all were most friendly. One was about
ninety, and he said : ' I was four times your then
age on that day,' which was nearly true.
After dinner toasts began, and in turn our
Queen and Empress of India was proposed, to
which I replied ; also to my health in turn. They
said that after the Alma they made sure the
allies would enter the north side and take the
place, and sent many troops away to avoid cap-
ture. In consequence they were short-handed,
and the sailors had to work very hard on, and in,
the batteries; indeed that the battery work at
first was nearly all done by them.
I, of course, heard many personal narratives.
Admiral Manto declared he saw at Sinope a boy
killed by the wind of a shot passing close to him,
and that several bones were broken, though he
was without external injury.
You could at that time quite trace out the
lines, both of the defence and of the besiegers.
The advanced French trench was only 25 yards
from the Malakoff ditch ; but ours was 120 yards
from the Redan, which we had to storm— the
270
ODESSA
nature of the ground making it very difficult to
get nearer. But this is history.
I visited our cemetery on Cathcart Hill; it
was then walled round and well kept, but I fear
had not always been so. On the north side of
the harbour is the Russian cemetery of the siege
where about 100,000 men are said to be buried.
That extraordinary vessel, the Popoffka, was laid
up here ; she was nearly round, with six screws to
drive her, and was a failure.
We left Sevastopol with regret, for Odessa,
which is a flourishing town with bad hotels. I
went to the cliff below which we destroyed the
Tiger's engines. 1
In Russia our letters often had been opened
by the censor, our newspapers always, some not
let pass ; others came with many parts obliterated
with a stamp for that purpose. Books coming in
were also examined.
At Odessa the English chaplain showed me
a book of his that had been through the censor's
hands ; it was scored through and marked in many
places, and had, he thought, been finally thrown
by mistake into the delivery heap, instead of that
for destruction.
One thing I remarked in Russia was that no
driven horses have blinkers ; are they required
except to put your crest on ?
We next went to Nikolaef, 32 miles up the
River Bug, by steamer, passing Kinburn on our
way. At Nikolaef is a dockyard where the
ships of the Black Sea Fleet were all built and
^ See page i6.
271
MY NAVAL CAREER
formerly floated down the shallow river on
cradles ; now the river is dredged deeper. Only-
one ship, the Twelve Apostles, was building.
There was some absurd mistake made through
her name, that several ships were being built
there. There was in 1854 a three-decker of that
name at Sevastopol.
From Nicolaef we went to Kief, a fine town,
and held in great veneration by the Russians.
Here we had to personally interview the police
authorities, to obtain permission to leave Russia.
Of course you cannot enter it without a passport,
and the moment you arrive at an hotel it must be
given up to be examined and marked at the police
station, without which they would not entertain
you. We returned to England via Vienna and
Paris.
272
CHAPTER XXII
REAR-ADMIRAL (continued)
Channel Squadron — Pilgrims — United States — ^Mail Steamer —
Naval Manoeuvres — France.
That winter I went for a cruise as the guest of my
friend Admiral Sir Richard Tracey in H.M.S.
Anson, he being Second in Command of the Channel
Squadron. New signal books had just been
issued to the Navy, and I was very anxious to see
them tried.
Young officers now would be amused if they
could see the ' Channel Fleet ' of that day. It
consisted of four captains' ships, the Anson
being the only one not obsolete, and one smaller
vessel as despatch boat. Perhaps naturally
manoeuvres were not attempted, and little besides
keeping the ships in order and moving from port
to port was done.
Arosa Bay had just been ' discovered ' by us for
the squadron as a port. From there we visited
St. lago de Compostella, and Tracey and I made
a further pilgrimage to Coruna in the diligence.
For over seven hours we were jammed up in the
MY NAVAL CAREER
banquette, unable to move, with a fine view of the
eleven wretched quadrupeds, some horses, some
mules, who dragged us. On arrival I felt I would
subscribe anything for a statue to the inventor of
railways.
On our way we passed a real pilgrim, in
ancient dress, with pointed hat, long staff with a
cross, scollop shells on his coat — in fact ' he wore the
sandal shoon and scollop shell,' as Byron says.
We next went to Gibraltar, where the usual
winter entertainments and hunting with the
Calpe Hounds amused us. At no place I know
do the two services fraternise more than here.
I visited Ceuta, to form my opinion of its value.
In 1879 I believe the Spaniards offered it to us
in exchange for Gibraltar. Neither place has a
decent natural harbour, so in that respect there
is not much choice. But Ceuta is more com-
manded by the hills rising from it. Probably, had
we made the exchange, we should at that date
have acquired the land near it as a small colony,
but the advantages of that are very doubtful.
I left my kind host in the Anson and went to a
few places on the African coast and to the South of
France for a time. Toulon always impresses me
as a fine naval port, so long as the heights near
it are safe from an invading army.
In the spring I went to the United States, my
first visit there. I crossed both ways in the
Cunard ship Etruria, then one of the fastest of
the day. She was 12,000 tons, 505 feet long, and
was built in 1885. Her best runs were 465 miles
in the day ; the passage from Queenstown to Sandy
274 '^
A LADY'S ADVENTURE IN BALTIMORE
Hook was made in six days and eighteen hours,
and was considered a very good one then.
I visited various places in the States, receiving
as one always does the greatest kindness and
hospitality. An introduction or two to start
with leads probably to more invitations than you
are able to accept.
At Washington I much admired the splendid
Capitol, their Houses of Parhament. The site it
is on and the building itself taken together are
nearly unrivalled.
A friend, a Mrs. C , told me the following
story about an occurrence at Baltimore ; she knew
the lady intimately to whom it occurred. This
lady, who had a home both in that town and a few
miles outside it, had occasion to spend a night in
her town house, then half shut up. Her brother
who lived in the town met her and they with a man
friend dined at an hotel together. They then
both saw her home to her house. She went into
her bedroom to prepare for bed. She had come
to visit a bank and get a considerable sum of
money. This her brother and the friend both
knew. Many rooms in the United States have
over the door what is called a ' transom,' viz. a
pane of glass on a swivel frame that can open.
Sitting at her toilet-table with her back to the
door she saw in the mirror a face at the transom.
She kept still and reflected that as she was
alone in the house to ring the bell was no good,
and decided that she would pretend not to notice
the intruder for fear he should murder her; for
though she recognised him as her brother's friend
275 T2
MY NAVAL CAREER
she felt he must be there for some desperate
purpose. So she got into bed and pretended to
sleep. Soon the man climbed in through the
transom, took the money, and let himself out at
the door and escaped out of the house, she seeming
to sleep.
Next morning she went to her brother and told
him about it. The brother, though incredulous as
to the identity of the thief, took her to him, and
told what she said. He at once gave in, and
confessed that he was in great want of money
and had acted as above.
There is a fresh, smart liveliness in American
society, caused perhaps partly by the atmosphere
of the country, which is certainly dryer and
lighter than ours over here. But I think it is also
because as a nation they are more mixed and
cosmopolitan than we are.
Chicago to me was the most unlike an English
place than any I visited, and no one can like its
climate, or admire its beauty — there is none. One
day at noon the thermometer fell about thirty
degrees in fifteen minutes, owing to a shift of the
wind to blowing from off Lake Michigan. I dined
at a Debating Club that met periodically, and after
dinner had a regular debate, only one speaking at
a time — a very good idea, I think. We had politics,
and the company seemed well up in ours.
Mr. Armour had me shown over his great ham
and bacon place. One and a quarter million pigs
are killed in a year. It is not an appetising sight,
and I felt as if I could not eat ham for a long time
after.
276
PULLMAN TO WN-~ NIAGARA FALLS
Pullman Town a few miles off is worth seeing,
where the cars of that name are made. They had
4500 workmen, of whom 3000 were Germans and
Swedes, and 40 cars were being finished daily.
The wheels of the cars were filled in with paper
squeezed very tight between the tyres and the
axle to deaden the vibration. By the way, it
sounds odd that the Japanese word ' Jin-rick-sha'
means man-power car, or Pull-man-car.
Niagara must always fascinate, but its water
is being robbed for electric power, and the sky-
sign advertisements put up in the most prominent
places are an outrage on nature.
I had introductions to a family who had lived
here for some generations just above the falls.
A very charming daughter took me about and
said she had grown up overlooking the rapid just
above where it fell over, and the falls to her were
quite natural all her life, and she had seen a boat
with people in it, that had lost an oar, helplessly
swept over.
Below the falls it is calm for a mile or so before
the lower rapids in which Captain Webb was
drowned. One can pull in a small boat to within
a hundred yards of the torrent, below it, quite
safely. I did so, as the season for the excursion
steamers had not begun.
The American works and tunnelling to use the A
water for electric power were just then beginning,
and electricity is perhaps the problem of the hour j
now. I then heard the account of Mr. Edison
trying to restore his first wife to life by it, and j
think I can understand its domination of the
MY NAVAL CAREER
senses, in those who have immersed their minds
in it.
I returned to England in the Etruria, as I have
said. It was the height of the season, and she,
being one of the flyers of the time, was crowded.
The floral offerings to the departing ladies
nearly filled the saloon — ships made of flowers and
other contrivances ; all meals had to be doubled ;
on deck you could hardly walk at all for the long
lounge chairs in which the passengers delighted.
I should like to have put them all on board a
man-of-war, and not allowed them to sit down
on deck ! But the crowd was very amusing in its
way.
Mostly the cabins were crammed, but I had one
to myself by the kindness of my good friend the
first Lord Inverclyde. On the way home we
had a concert, as I believe all the mail steamers do,
in aid of Sailors* Homes at Liverpool and at
New York, this last having been latterly most pro-
perly added. I was made chairman of it ; much
money must be got in the year.
Our captain told me this story. One trip he
was leaving New York, and on descending from
the bridge when outside the harbour was accosted
by a passenger, who said : * Captain, I have looked
at the compass, and see that the course you are
steering will not take us to Queenstown, and I am
a schoolmaster and know about these things.'
The captain was not pleased and gave but a short
reply. Having reached Queenstown as usual,
they were leaving for Liverpool, and as he came
down from the bridge he saw the learned peda-
278
NAVAL MANCEUVRES
gogue waiting for him, who at once said : ' Well,
Captain, I see you did get here; but can you
explain it ? ' To which the captain replied,
' Sir, you are a schoolmaster, and I am not, so
I do not pretend to explain it/ My readers will
understand the schoolmaster considered neither
the variation nor the deviation of the compass.
I now spent the season mostly in town, but I
do not write of my private life in England, as I
cannot suppose it will interest others, and such
personal monologues are usually overdone.
In the autumn of 1890 I again embarked in the
Anson as a guest of my friend Admiral Tracey for
the manoeuvres. Our ' side,' the ' A ' or defending
fleet, assembled in Plymouth Sound.
War was supposed to be declared at 5 P-^- on
8th August. Tracey was second in command.
Our Commander-in-Chief, a most able man, had
no expectation of hostilities that night, but at
about 3 A.M. next morning the (supposed) enemy's
torpedo flotilla came in, and harmlessly torpedoed
three or four of our ships, which would have
defeated our side, as leaving us too inferior to the
other fleet.
What was to be done ? The Admiralty were
consulted by telegraph ; and the wise decision
arrived at, that the manoeuvres should proceed
without prejudice !
Not much happened ; we (' A ' Fleet) cruised
mostly off the Scilly Islands for about ten days,
and then returned to port. It is not easy to
make naval manoeuvres really instructive, but
the general experience of getting ships and crews
279
MY NAVAL CAREER
into order, and of organising and handling a
quantity of ships, is all good experience ; and
to have a supposed strategic object in view much
exercises the imagination and scheming powers
of those in command, at the same time exciting
an interest in all concerned that sometimes becomes
curiously great, and calls forth extra zeal. All
this is good, but after all it does not matter one
straw which side is supposed to have won.
I may add by my own experience that these
mobilisations — certainly when I had to do with
them between the years 1885 and 1897 — showed
us many weak points about ships supposed to be
in the pink of condition, for commissioning and
proceeding to sea on active service. No doubt
these experiences were as salutary as unwelcome,
and of proportionate advantage to the service.
In which case, adding together all the above, we
may say the game was, and is, well worth the
candle, and that the expense of the manoeuvres is
not to be grudged.
I joined a friend in taking a shooting in Scot-
land for the autumn, and then went to France. As
usual I went to Touraine, mostly, and lived among
my old French friends. I am always struck with
two or three things in French country life as
different from ours. I think the life of the gentry
is simpler and less ostentatious than in England ;
cheaper too, both because a franc goes as far
as a shilling in England, and also because French
servants work much harder than ours, and one
servant does the work of two here.
As regards the clergy, I have the greatest
280
IN THE BORDEAUX COUNTRY
respect for the country cures, and believe that,
as a rule, they lead quite exemplary lives. The
gentry seem to me to take little share in the
management of provincial matters and politics —
a state of affairs in my opinion almost disastrous
to a nation. When talking to them about it, they
seem often as if they had given the matter up as a
bad job. I suppose Communism will some day
produce this feeling in other countries than France
— here perhaps.
[ I spent a few days at Bordeaux and heard
much about wine, and dined with a French wine
merchant. It was new to me to hear that Medoc,
the name for wine so well known, and taken from
the growth of the vines there, got its name from
in medio aqua, meaning the tongue of land, about
fifty-five miles long, situated between the River
Gironde and the sea, on which so much of that red
wine's grapes are grown.
I came to London from Bordeaux by sea in a
small English steamer. Our weather was curious :
we had in turn, first a snowstorm, then a thunder-
storm, a waterspout, and St. Elmo's lights at
the ends of the spars. Such a variety in two or
three days I never saw. The Clerk of the Weather
must have gone mad !
The captain knew the shoals about Ushant
perfectly, and to show me how at home he was
there, in a dark night, he passed through inside
the Isle de Seine and Ushant with the utmost
confidence ; it struck me how useful such men
would be to us if ever the times of a century ago
returned. But they wiU not, I think.
281
CHAPTER XXIII
REAR-ADMIRAL (continued)
West India Islands — Training Squadron — Jamaica — Shark Story
— Panama Canal — North Pacific Mail Steamer — San
Francisco — California — Canada — Canary Islands — Emigrant
Story.
I SAILED in the R.M.S.P. Orinoco for Barbados
on Christmas Eve, and spent a nice quiet Christmas
Day in the Bay of Biscay ; a very good place too
for it.
At Barbados I went to the post-office and got
one letter asking me to stay at Fonthill in England,
the other at Fonthill in Jamaica. Rather odd ;
once, as is known, both belonged to the same owner.
Barbados is one-seventh larger than the Isle of
Wight. I always think comparisons like that are
much better than to say so many acres or square
miles. The fact of the coffins in a well-closed up
and dry vault, in a churchyard in Barbados, being
found on more than one occasion moved about to
new positions when the vault was re-opened for
another burial, is well known and I believe quite
unexplained.
I then took to the local British Royal Mail
steamer and went to Santa Lucia, but will not
282
THE GRAVE OF PITT'S SON
weary my readers with an account of these well-
known islands. I believe there is only one of our
West India islands in which the * Fer de lance '
snake is found, viz. Santa Lucia. Kingsley in his
' At Last/ I think, gives Dominica the palm as
being the most beautiful of the Antilles, and I
know no island anywhere that to my mind
surpasses it ; but such is a question of feeling,
not fact.
I visited several more of these islands, and
could advise anyone fond of yachting to spend
a winter among them.
On I2th January 1891, as I was driving through
the Island of Antigua to English Harbour, and
passing the churchyard of St. Paul's parish, I
stopped and went in to look at the graves, and
found one with its stone slab covering fallen off,
but on it was engraved :
' Here lie the remains of Hon^^^ James Charles
Pitt — Son of the Earl of Chatham — Com-
mander of H.M.S. Hornet, who died in English
Harbour 13th November 1780, aged 20 years.
His early virtues and dawning promise
bespoke a meridian splendour worthy the
name of Pitt.'
One brother was buried in Westminster Abbey,
and the other at St. Paul's— Antigua. I was able
to communicate with relatives, who restored the
grave.
I spent some very pleasant days in Grenada
with my friends the Hon. Sir Walter and Lady
Hely Hutchinson, he being the Governor there,
283
MY NAVAL CAREER
and the possessor of a beautiful collection of
orchids.
At St. Thomas, which is Danish, the Governor
was most kind. I heard all about the great hurricane
of 1867 and the seismic wave that visited the island
a few weeks afterwards, but had no connection
with the former. Residents told me that con-
cerning the wave, they saw the sea much higher
than usual at the mouth of the harbour, and were
alarmed and ran up the hillside on which the town
stands. That after the wave had come in and
flooded the lower town, and wrecked some ships,
the sea receded many feet below the normal
position, and for a very short interval left dry
parts that are usually many feet under water.
Then by degrees with ebbs and flows of waves the
ordinary condition was restored.
At St. Kitts Island I became the guest of
Commodore A. T. Powlett, my old messmate in
the Terrible — he being in command of our
training squadron ; and with him I went to
Jamaica in the Active,
The Exhibition there of 1891 was in full swing
and was a great success. I thought not the least
interesting thing in it was the ship's papers that
were found inside a shark, concerning which the
following is a true account.
The Nancy, a brig of Baltimore, left that place
in 1799, and on her way to Port au Prince was
captured by H.M.S. Sparrow and taken to Port
Royal, her cargo being contraband of war. The
case was being tried in the Vice- Admiralty Court
at Kingston, and would have been dismissed, had
284
A SUGAR-CANE ESTATE
not Lieutenant Fitton of H.M.S. Abergavenny
produced certain papers which he found inside a
shark caught off Jacmel by the Ferret, tender to the
above ship. These papers, together with others
of an incriminating nature found in the Nancy,
led to the condemnation of the brig and her cargo
on 25th November 1799.^
I stayed with my cousin, Captain Seymour
Spencer Smith, at his estates, Fonthill and Hamp-
stead, which adjoin. In his great-uncle's time
the owner could lay by £10,000 a year ; that being
the palmy period of slaves and sugar. Now
there is not a cane on the property ; but pimento,
logwood and cattle are the staples of it, and the
income is, I fear, very little.
Both the grand old planter's houses of the
two estates had vanished. I visited other estates,
and stayed at one called the ' Retreat,' owned by
Mr. W. Farquharson. This was a sugar-cane one,
and the harvest was in full swing when I was there.
The cane-crushing mill was close to our small house.
It was a scene of great animation ; work went on
for about eighteen hours, certainly for far more than
the hours of daylight. Negroes and negresses
big and small joined in. When a certain amount
of cane was crushed the big bell was tolled loudly,
and each operative knew that he, or she, had
earned so much harvest money, and was stimu-
lated thereby to fresh exertions.
The negroes are, of course, utterly unfit to
govern themselves, but if governed with a strong
^ The shark's jaws are now in the United Service Museum,
WhitehaU.
285
MY NAVAL CAREER
and kind hand, are happy, healthy, and, to my
mind, very amusing to deal with.
I have talked in the Southern States of the
Union with people who remembered the slave
times. Of course it was an abuse that should not
exist, and all history, I think, shows, not only in
the so-called ' New World ' but also in the ' Old,'
that slave-owning had always a very bad effect
on the masters : worse morallv than on the
slaves.
From Jamaica I went to Colon to see the
Panama Canal, and to do so stayed in Panama, and
from there visited the works. In the Nineteenth
Century Review for February 1892 I pubUshed
the result of my visit, with my opinions, that were
shortly as follows :
That the work had gone on about nine years,
in which about sixty million pounds sterling had
been spent, and only one-third of it really well ;
and that a lock canal, with an artificial lake to
aliment the locks, seemed the only practical plan.
I was much impressed with the deadly climate of
the Isthmus. The heat is very trying because
the climate is so damp and steamy ; the thermo-
meter while I was there ranged from 77° to 87°.
As regards the Panama railway, the expression
is that a man was buried under every sleeper.
The growth of the vegetation is such that they say
if the railway was quite neglected for a few weeks
the creepers, &c., could make the line impassable
till cleared away.
In the town of Panama were manj^ hairless
dogs (called ' Fever dogs ' ) when I was there,
286
EASTER DAY AT PANAMA
of whom the superstition is that they are an
antidote to the fever.
We were at Panama on Easter Day. In the
morning we attended High Mass at the Cathedral,
where a company of soldiers were present in
full dress, and presented arms at the * Elevation
of the Host.' In the afternoon we were present
at a cock fight, the only one I ever saw, and
I cannot understand how English gentlemen can
have taken pleasure in so degi'ading a sport.
We all admire Count Ferdinand de Lesseps,
but so great a work as the Panama Canal was
surely never elsewhere so lightly undertaken.
I left Panama in the U.S. Mail siea,mer A capulco
for San Francisco. We called at many ports on
our way ; in Guatemala we went by rail to the
capital — of no great interest. At a station on our
way up we were visited by some tiny native
women selling fine and excellent pineapples for
what equalled in our money 2d. each.
Our steamer had lately had a tragic event on
board. She was coming south, and anchored off
St. Jose, the port for the country. She had on
board a Guatemalan General proscribed by law.
He hoped to get by unnoticed, but the authorities
heard he was in the ship, and the police boarded
her, and demanded his being given up. He retreated
to his cabin with arms, and locked the door.
Free firing began and he was killed ; there were
many bullet marks to be seen. A United States
gunboat was at the anchorage, and her com-
mander was blamed for not having taken the
victim on board, kept outside, and so saved the
287
MY NAVAL CAREER
above scene in a vessel under the United States
flag. But as things were the local authorities
acted within their rights.
All the servants, and many of the stokers and
others in these steamers are Chinamen, and with
all a bargain is made that if they die on board
their bodies are embalmed and sent back to China
for interment at the cost of the steamer company.
The Pacific coast of Central America is very
badly off for harbours; usually there was no
shelter where we anchored.
In about a month we arrived at San Francisco
and found two celebrities there, viz. the President
of the United States, and Sarah Bernhardt, who
was in the same hotel with me, and her rooms
being on the same floor, the landing was usually
covered with presents from her admirers — floral
gifts, of course, but also wild animals of sorts,
luckily in cages ; anything she asked for, if it
could be got.
The climate of California in spring is delightful,
and indeed all the year round is, I believe, one
of the best in the world. As a harbour San
Francisco has the fault of being too large inside,
like Rio de Janeiro.
Among other places I visited the Yosemite
Valley and the famous Wellingtonias, or Sequoias,
at the Mariposa Grove. We drove through the
hole cut in the tree, which evervone knows on
the wine brand advertisement. Near by there
is a store where all sorts of things are sold and
all said to be made of the wood cut out to make
the above hole.
288
THE MAIL DRIVER AND THE HIGHWAYMEN
A Yankee friend with me bought a stick, and
when another man doubted its genuineness,
repHed, ' The man said it was so, and I carried
it off, and the he is on his conscience/
I drove many miles on a * buckboard ' with
an American and his daughter, and our driver,
whose father had driven the mail cart for years,
told us several stories of the highwaymen. One
only I will repeat, as follows : His father had
by his side a lady who had on a watch and chain
round her neck, which she much valued, and
hoped if stuck up by the robbers she would not
lose it. The driver said: 'Give it to me, for if
we do what they tell us it is a point of honour
not to rob the driver/ They were stopped by
the brigands. The fashion was for one or two
brigands to stand in the road and call out
* Stop,* while others from the roadside kept
their rifles pointed at the car. The driver was
expected to pull up, and get out and stand at
his horses* heads till the affair was over ;
the passengers all to alight and toe a line
along the road, and hold their hands up while
searched.
This procedure went on, and was all but over,
when one of the highwaymen said to the driver :
* Hullo, Bill, that 's a fine chain you Ve got on,
what's the time ? ' Bill coolly looked at the
watch, and was about to reply, when the owner
called out : ' Oh my dear watch, don't take it/
'Oh, Bill,' said his querist, * that 's the game, is
it ? Hand over the watch and chain and never
try that trick again.'
289 V
MY NAVAL CAREER
Everyone knows there are no end of rattle-
snakes in California. One day with some com-
panions we saw a snake on the road that had
been hurt and could not get away. I jumped
down and got my foot on its head. They said,
'Pull his rattles off,' I hate touching a snake,
but did so, and gave them to the lady mentioned
above, as women out there sometimes wear them as
brooches. This snake had nine rattles ; eleven are
said to be about the greatest number found, and the
snakes, I am told, get one more each year they live.
From San Francisco I went to Vancouver's
Island, and thence across Canada to Montreal, but
a description by me is not wanted. Travellers in
the United States know what the newspaper
reporters are. I have been ' interviewed ' many
times. But at Seattle they put in an invented
conversation with my opinions, I not having
been even asked for an interview. As a rule I
used to see the reporters to save worry, and they
are often amusing. Besides the interview I have
been requested to come round the comer and
be photographed ' right away ' for to-morrow's
issue ; and I have once or twice seen the portrait
of another naval officer put in as mine. These
things do no harm, and it is best to be amused
by them. Contradiction of invented opinions
rather pleases the journalist, as drawing attention
to his organ.
I returned to England in an Allan Line steamer,
with no event to relate except seeing some icebergs.
In the autumn of 1891 I had a cruise in the
Sans Pareil with my friend, now Admiral Sir
290
CANARY ISLANDS
Cyprian Bridge, to see the naval manceuvres of
the year. The ship was sister to the ill-fated
Victoria, and the only other one of that class.
In December I went to the Canary Islands.
We arrived at Santa Cruz on Christmas Day, and
to show what odd mistakes the telegraph codes
may make, I will mention that two of my fellow
passengers — husband and wife, he being in business
in England — on landing at Teneriffe got a Unicode
telegram saying, ' Your house is burnt down, but
business can still be conducted/ Only one letter,
or figure — I forget which — was put wrong and made
the above instead of * A merry Christmas and a
happy New Year/
I visited all seven of the Canary Islands, and
it is curious how much they differ. The three
western ones — Palma, Gomera, and Hierro — are the
smallest, greenest and dampest. The two eastern
ones — Lanzarote and Fuertevertura — are the driest,
both for climate, soil and vegetation. In some
places in the former island the end of a stick put
two feet into the ground is charred by the heat.
The two central and largest — Teneriffe and Gran
Caranaria — are midway in climate, as in position, re-
garding the others; and they are both the most
populous for their size, as well as the best known.
I took it into my head to try and ascend the
Peak of Teneriffe in January. Perhaps partly
because Lord M had tried it two months
before and failed. i It is no feat at all. Alpine
* See a letter to the Times in November 1891. I sent my
account to the Times, but being only a common naval officer it
was not published.
201 U3
MY NAVAL CAREER
climbers would laugh at it. But so far as I could
learn it had never been done in winter, and the
guides did not wish to try it. Everything is
comparative !
The peak is 12,198 feet high above the sea,
and rises in all about 15,000 feet from the bed of
the ocean.
About 7000 feet above the sea you come to
what are called the Caiiadas — ' cafiada ' meaning
in Spanish a glen or dale between mountains. It
is supposed that this plateau, which is about
eight miles in diameter, was the ancient crater of
eruption while still submerged ; and that before
its upheaval from the sea, the second part of the
moimtain had been thrown up, and replaced it
as the active part of the volcano. This second
part rises to a height of 10,702 feet above the
sea, at a place called Alta Vista, and from there
springs the present cone.
At the time of my visit the upper half of the
mountain, including the Cafiadas, was covered
with snow. I first went up to them, made my
plan and returned. I then started early one
morning with three native guides, also Harold
Douglas, a young friend, Mr. Egger, the landlord
of my hotel at Orotava, and two mules.
We rested at a hut on the Cafiadas, where the
guides strongly advised our returning. But in
spite of them we went on up the ' Lomo Tieso,'
perhaps best translated as the * Stubborn Ridge,'
a steep ascent of frozen snow ; of course no mules
could face it. I had chosen full moon, and, with
axes to help cut steps, we at last reached, at Alta
292
PASSAGE IN A FROZEN-MEAT SHIP
Vista, the hut called the * Casa Inglesa/ into
which we got and spent a chilly night. My
companions were mountain sick, I much the
same, and all very cold. Next morning we
climbed up the cone, and so accomplished our
object.
In summer only patches of snow are left on
the mountain. I could say much about the
Canary Islands, but will cut short any further
account of them, as I did my own visit, on hearing
that my turn for employment seemed to have
come, and I was most anxious above all things
to hoist my flag, and I wished therefore to be
on the spot.
I therefore got a passage home in a New
Zealand frozen-meat ship, called the Maori, as
the quickest means of going. She was not a
passenger ship. We fed on frozen sheep got up
every morning from the refrigerating room,
thawed gradually and then cooked. The cooling
of the refrigerating chambers was done entirely
by very great compression of air, which is then
passed through pipes cooled by the sea water ;
after which it is allowed to expand suddenly and
then becomes very cold, going to far below zero
even in the tropics at times, I am told.
The captain told me the following story. He
was first mate of a sailing ship taking emigrants
to New Zealand. One afternoon an emigrant
apparently died. He reported this to the captain,
who said: 'We will bury him at sunset.' But
as the man had a wife on board it was put off to
the next morning. That evening the supposed
293
MY NAVAL CAREER
deceased was being sewn up in canvas, which at
sea takes the place of a coffin. The face is usually
covered last, and when it came to that stage, my
informant agreed with the sailmaker to leave the
face exposed till the next morning, so that the wife
might take a last look at it. The body was in a
place by itself. In the morning the bereaved one
went in alone to say farewell. A loud yell was
heard, others entered, and found the supposed
widow fainting across the ' corpse,' whose eyes were
rolling in its head. Finally husband and wife both
landed in New Zealand. Moral, when you emigrate
take a wife with you.
We arrived in the Thames, and I proceeded to
urge my claim for employment into the always
most sympathetic ears of the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty !
294
CHAPTER XXIV
SECOND IN COMMAND CHANNEL SQUADRON
H.M.S. Swiftsure — Manceuvres — H.M.S. Anson — Ferrol — Salving
H.M.S. Howe — Spaniards — Serpent's Cemetery — ^Ferrol Ball
— H.M.S. Empress of India — Winter Cruise.
On 2ist July 1892 I hoisted my flag for the first
time in H.M.S. Swiftsure at Devonport for a
month's cruise as Second in Command for the
summer manoeuvres.
I had then been three years on half-pay as
Rear- Admiral, and, having no particular interest,
began to think that the Admiralty did not
intend to employ me at all ; the more so that
some of my juniors were already afloat in good
appointments.
At the time I was much annoyed, but reflec-
tion showed me two things : one that selection
must always be ruled by some favouritism, which
when in our favour we call good judgment ; and
the other that your character and your sympathy
with others benefit much by some personal dis-
appointment. But I was very glad to get afloat
anyhow.
My superior ofiicer in these manoeuvres was
295
MY NAVAL CAREER
the late Admiral Fitzroy, an old friend, and a
very capable officer. We rendezvoused in Torbay
to organise ; this with a lot of scratch com-
missioned ships means hard work for all con-
cerned, but it is capital training for what will
probably occur in case of war.
A description of the manoeuvres would not
be interesting, so I will only say we were called
the Red Fleet, and the others the Blue ; that
the seat of the supposed war was off the north-
east coast of Ireland mostly; and we were
considered to have won. Outsiders can hardly
realise how interested and even excited the
actors in these sham campaigns get ; and it is
well they should do so. In this one in Belfast
Lough, the officer of a steamboat put his helm
over and rammed an enemy's boat, excusing him-
self by saying he thought the order called out
to run was to ram. But I am sure he much
preferred what he did do. Happily they were
not ships.
The next month — September — I was appointed
as Second in Command of the Channel Fleet, my
flag being in the Anson, a ship I knew already.
She was one of the six ' Admiral ' class, and, like
most other armoured vessels, was soon severely
criticised, and almost condemned. Their worst
point, perhaps, was that their barbettes did not
have sufficient armoured protection below them.
For accommodation the men were very well off
in the central and highest part of the ship.
The ends of the ship were very low, and I
have seen her battened down forward, and also
296
CHANNEL SQUADRON CRUISE
aft over all the officers* cabins and mess places,
for two or more days. But they were better
fighting ships than those before them.
The flag-officer commanding the Channel
Fleet then was Vice- Admiral Fairfax, a delightful
companion, and a great friend.
In October the squadron rendezvoused off the
Start, and comprised the Royal Sovereign (flag of
Vice- Admiral Fairfax), Anson, Howe and Rodney
(ironclads so-called then), two cruisers, and a
despatch boat.
We went to the north coast of Spain, and
then to Coruiia, the scene of that battle ending
with our splendid retreat in 1809 and the glorious
death of our General. A retreat may be as
creditable as a victory, and Sir John Moore's
was so ; but, perhaps, a battle can hardly be
called a victory unless you either hold the field
or advance beyond it.
On 2nd November we went to Ferrol to pay
an official visit to the Spanish Captain-General,
meaning to stay there only three hours; I
remained seven months. What happened was
this : Our squadron, as enumerated above, was
passing through the long entrance to Ferrol
harbour, with a flood tide in its favour. The
ships were in single column line ahead, as was
right, the Royal Sovereign leading. As soon as
she had cleared the passage and entered the very
spacious harbour, the Admiral said to his Flag-
captain, ' Reduce speed,' naming the revolutions.
This he did not mean for a signal to the ships astern
of him, but by an error it was hoisted.
297
MY NAVAL CAREER
At that time the Howe was passing a small
bay on her port hand, and seeing the signal she
reduced her speed. She was already rather too
much in the bay, and this, the slower speed, and
the flood tide taking her on her starboard quarter
caused her to be swept on to an uncharted rock,
where she remained with her port bilge ripped
open. Her captain was a very good officer, also
young for his position, already distinguished,
and with the best of service prospects. The
result was his professional ruin. I only mention
this, not so much to blame him — ^it might have
happened to others — but to show how precarious
is the career of a naval officer, and how one
minute's error (even in peace time) may mean
professional ruin, or the loss of the ship.
As regards the tribunal part of the matter
and myself, I will only shortly say that I was
told to hold a court of inquiry at once to say if
the rock was known or not, and a few other details,
but not to apportion the blame.
The Vice- Admiral and some ships were ordered
home, and a court martial was held at Portsmouth
to try the Captain of the Howe, but with very little
result ; so a second court martial was, several
weeks after, held at Devonport to try the Vice-
Admiral. For this I was ordered to England,
and put in the, I think, rather unusual position
of being distinctly asked to state what were the
causes of the Howe running aground.
As my flagship was astern of her, with only
one ship between us, I, of course, knew all about it.
and said what I knew, and gave the four causes.
298
PREPARATIONS FOR SALVING H.M.S. HOWE
But it is now long past, and I will proceed to some
account of the Howe's being salved.^
By daylight on 3rd November the ship assumed
the following position, heeling 20° to starboard,
and her bow tipped down 10°, and in this
position without the least movement she remained
for loi days. At high tide her forepart and all
her starboard side were well under water, and she
had 12,000 tons of sea water inside her. Had she
been exposed to wave action she could, of course,
not have been saved, but would have broken up.
The Admiralty left me at Ferrol in charge of
a small squadron to guard the wreck and help to
salve her ; the contract for the salvage being given
to the Neptune Salvage Company of Stockholm,
on the excellent principle of ' no cure no pay,' i.e.
that the Company agreed to convey the Howe
within six months to the gates of the dry dock
in the * Darcena ' or floating basin at Ferrol for
£35>ooo.
The superintendent of the Salvage Company's
people sent was Captain Edlind, who was both a
very able man and one perfect to work with.
Three steamers were sent, and were lashed along-
side the Howe, all having very powerful steam
pumps on board. The Howe was on a rocky
shoal of hard granite for quite half her length,
the bow and stern off the ground, with deep water
on her starboard beam, and this we were always
^ If anyone wishes to study this subject let them read the
admirable account of it by the late Rear- Admiral G. T. H. Boyes,
then my Flag-captain, called Salvage Operations : the Floating of
H.M. Battleship Howe.
299
MY NAVAL CAREER
afraid of her tumbling off into, or indeed of her
capsizing.
The damages were mostly on the port side, and
it may give some idea of them to say, that after
the ship was got into dock at Ferrol, I could
stand on a temporary flooring where the bottom
of the ship used to be, and holding one hand
over my head could not touch where the ship's
bottom plates had been driven up to. It was
mainly a question of divers' work.
The Salvage Company had, of course, first-rate
divers, but our own were specially useful for the
intricate inside of the ship. This was a very
dangerous part, and one day we nearly lost some
men at it, by their air-pipes getting jammed.
The steps to be taken were, generally speaking,
these :
1. Remove by blasting the rocks that had
penetrated the ship.
2. Build a wooden coffer dam, or flooring, to
do temporary duty as ship's bottom on
port side.
3. Stop up also by this or other means any
holes on the starboard side not at first
possible to discover.
4. When sufficiently watertight pump her out
and float her.
For the first the blasting charges had to be
small so as not to injure the ship's frame, &c.
For the second careful measurements had
to be made by the divers, and wooden frames
made in accordance.
300
PRECAUTIONS IN SALVAGE OPERATIONS
For the third, if and when possible, as for the
second.
For the fourth, the pumping power of the
three salvage steamers and of all other pumps
the squadron could provide.
By degrees we made watertight and pumped
out the uninjured after compartments of the ship,
and, of course, we moved all weights not fixtures
in her, except her four 67-ton guns. There would
have been immense difficulty in getting them
out, owing to the great heel of the ship and the
very strong shears required, so they were left
in place.
It was most important not to let the ship
move on her bed till ready to lift, because if
she did so she would destroy the work referred
to in the second and third categories above.
Partly to prevent this and also to prevent her
slipping off to starboard into deep water, we got
every steel wire hawser we could, at least ten of
them, and made them fast from the ship to
anchors and rocks on the shore. These hawsers at
low tide were as taut as harp strings, and the
chain cables of the salvage steamers lay over
them like a watch chain would over your
finger.
Indeed I wrote to the Admiralty and said : * If
one of these wire hawsers parts, the name of
the hero of the ist June 1794 will have to be
scratched off the Navy List ! '
One great difficulty was that the so-called
watertight compartments were not so, but leaked
very much, besides which water passed through
301
MY NAVAL CAREER
the ventilation arrangements; the mud, shme
and dirt covering everything as the water was
cleared from below, and the bad smell was almost
beyond belief. The plan of salvage, the skilled
diving work, building a false bottom to the ship,
and pumping her out, were all entirely due to the
Salvage Company; but we in the squadron were
constantly at work at the Howe, and without us a
far larger staff and number of men from the
Cornpany must have been necessary, and probably
more steamers.
On the 3rd February, just three months after
she grounded, the first attempt was made to
pump her out and float her off the rocks, but it
failed. Steps were now taken to keep the water
out by coffer dams inside the ship. As a result
of this on the nth February, after no movement
for loi days, she righted one degree, which was
hailed with as much delight as a first-bom infant's
first articulate word is by its mother. After this
the ship gradually righted more, and our hopes
rose in proportion.
The Howe's complement had been reduced
to her Commander, Charles Windham — now a
Rear- Admiral — and a few officers. Windham
lived in the wreck, and showed a good example to
all, which was followed. The carpenter, Mr. J.
Rice, was a host in himself, and was afterwards
rewarded by being made carpenter of the Royal
Yacht.
We now set to work to make collision mats to
place under the ship, and in all seven such were
placed. Divers with iron bodkins, some twelve
302
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CO
FLOATING OF H.M.S. HOWE
feet long, worked them through under the keel,
a rope being fast to the bodkin's eye, and to this
rope a chain made fast to the mat.
Of course we had complete stations prepared
and known for the duties required if the ship
was floated ; in view also of the possibility of her
sinking again in deep water, arrangements to try
and save the men in her. The Seahorse, a man-of-
war steamer, all steamboats, and the pulling
boats of the squadron had their stations, and
knew if the signal BX was made at any hour what
to do ; and two possible beaching places were
examined and selected. The above ' stations '
employed on board the Howe 412 officers and men,
besides those belonging to her.
On 27th March the first attempt was made to
float and haul the ship off the shoal, but failed,
as did two subsequent attempts.
At last the great day arrived ; on 30th March at
about 2 P.M. the Howe was floated off the shoal
that she had lain on for 148 days. Everyone
was at their station by the signal BX. The
steamers and steamboats were ready and only
high water awaited. The pumps were set to work,
the decrease of water anxiously watched inside
the ship, as well as at her water-line outside.
Soon a slight movement in the vessel was apparent,
the securing hawsers were slacked, and the towing
vessels started.
The Howe's head pays off slightly to starboard ;
she is alive again ; her winter fetters are cast off ;
she moves ahead; she is free. Will her tender
patches give way , and will she sink in deep water ?
3^3
MY NAVAL CAREER
This question may just occur to the mind, but
success is the predominant feeling.
I cannot express our dehght, it was almost
like winning a victory. The men cheered, and the
ships* bands as we approached them played
' Rule, Britannia.'
We anchored the ship in Malata Bay, an
inlet of this splendid harbour, and there placed
under her a specially prepared pad made of thin
deal planks, so fitted as to be flexible and fit tight
round the ship, and frapped firmly round her,
outside all the other mats and patches. We now
were able to pump out nearly all of the 2500 tons
of water still in her when floated.
On 13th April we got the Howe into the floating
basin, and on the 17th into the dry dock and in
safety. On arrival off it, we were still uncertain if she
would get in owing to her size and abnormal draft,
but the Salvage Company had earned their money.
I should now sav a few words about our social
life at Ferrol.
It is a purely naval port and was once the
scene of much activity. By nature it is, perhaps,
the finest naval port I know, being thoroughly
sheltered from the sea, with a narrow entrance,
having high sides that, fortified, could keep any
enemy out, and also keep him far away from the
town and inside shipping ; yet approachable
by ships at all times and tides, if properly surveyed,
buoyed, and lighted.
Inside is a fine expanse of water deep enough, but
not too deep ; and beyond this hills round its land
side on which forts could be put for inland defences.
304
SOCIAL LIFE AT FERROL
The Governor was the Captain-General Vice-
Admiral Jose de Carranza, a dignified Spanish
Don, speaking Enghsh well, and always assisting
us in every way he could. ^
He and his Sefiora had a reception every
Thursday evening, to which some of us always
went. There were many ladies there, and our
acquaintance among them was large ; but among
them not one spoke English, and only five
spoke French.
Our nation are bad linguists. My Flag-captain,
Boyes, already knew Spanish, but hardly one other
officer in the squadron knew a word of it. I,
my Flag-lieutenant (now Captain Douglas Nichol-
son), and another officer set to work to learn it.
There was only one English family in the
neighbourhood. Our Vice-Consul, Sefior Emilio
Anton, did all that was possible to help us, as
did the officials generally ; but an extraordinary
thing was that the peasantry were, as a rule, very
rude, and became if anything worse during our
stay. Why I cannot say, unless it is religious
animosity, and in order to show their disapproval
of heretics.
While I was at Ferrol the Admiralty told
me to look after the cemetery of the crew of the
Serpent. H.M.S. Serpent, a steam sloop, was
lost on loth November 1890 close to Cape
* The Queen was pleased to appoint the Captain-General
to be a Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George ; and
various pieces of plate were presented by the Admiralty to
Spanish officials at Ferrol. Captain Edlind, of the Neptune
Salvage Co., was also made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael
and St. George.
305 ^
MY NAVAL CAREER
Trece, about thirty miles north-east of Cape
Villano in Spain. Both these names are of ill-
omen. ' Villano ' means villain, and ' trece * is
thirteen in Spanish, and held by them as an
unlucky number.
The Serpent was outward bound to the west
coast of Africa, and of a crew of 175 only three
were saved — no officers. Most of the bodies were
washed on shore and buried by the Spaniards near
the spot. The graves were surrounded by a wall,
whose interior was divided into two-thirds and
one-third by a high wall. In the smaller space
they buried all they considered to be Roman
Catholics, and in the larger space the others.
I tried to find out how they arrived at the above,
but could not. I suppose every man who had a
woman tattooed on him was taken as a Roman
Catholic. Many sailors have women tattooed
on them. Probably the Serpent had, at most, a
dozen Roman Catholics.
It was a question of putting the place to
rights. I suggested that as on board ship they
had got on all right together, a wall was not
required to keep order, but this I fear shocked
the natives.
The cura of the parish was a delightful man,
and a very sporting character. The Admiralty
had, in reward for his attention after the wreck,
offered him a present, and he had asked for a
first-rate sporting gun; and I was now able to
supply him with a lot of cartridges of the same
gauge.
Several other vessels in the last few years had
306
GOOD FRIDAY CELEBRATIONS
been lost near the same spot, and there is no doubt
often an inset on that coast.
The Howe having been got off, we resolved to
celebrate the event, and so hired the theatre
in Ferrol and gave a great ball in it. Dancing
took place in the auditorium, which was arranged
so that such a thing could be done. We had the
supper on the stage, but before it began I made
them a speech in my best Spanish — not very good
at that ; but I am bound to say I worked it well up
beforehand.
We were at Ferrol in Lent, and at Easter. On
Good Friday there was a great religious procession,
the officers walking in it in full dress. The ships
had their yards topped at angles, and rigging
slacked off. Several images were carried in the
procession, and on Easter Eve a religious salute of
fifteen guns was fired.
When the Howe had been got into dock we
felt she was safe ; but shoreing her up there, with
her bottom nearly gone, was a difficult job.
Finally a sort of temporary bottom of wood was
fitted to her.
When the engine-room was emptied of water,
instead of the machinery being found all rusty
it was in good condition, as the great quantity
of oil afloat on the water deposited itself on the
metal as the water fell, and so kept the air off
and prevented rust.
The Howe was fifty-eight days in the dry dock ;
her stores, &c., were then replaced, her engines
tried running round the harbour, and on the
i8th June, after 229 days, we left Ferrol with her
307 X2
MY NAVAL CAREER
for England. Everything was prepared to tow her,
but she steamed home at eight knots, and I
deposited her safely at Sheerness.i
I returned in the Anson to Devonport, and on
arrival heard the dreadful news of the loss of
H.M.S. Victoria in the Mediterranean.
Our next job was the naval manoeuvres off
the coast of Ireland and in the St. George's
Channel. I will not describe them, but only
say that one day an odd thing occurred. Our
Fleet was just sighting the ' enemy ' at sea, the
two approaching each other, when a thick fog
came on and lasted some hours. What a difficult
position had it been real war !
After the manoeuvres I was ordered to Chatham
to change flagships, the Anson turning over to
the Empress of India, On our way a man was
lost in a curious way. The sea was calm, the
weather fine and warm, the ship steaming full
speed. A seaman fell overboard and the life-buoy
was let go close to him, but it being in the centre
of the stern it was towed along in the wake of the
ship, and the man could not reach it, and was
drowned.
The Empress of India was a new ship, sister to
the Royal Sovereign, and a great improvement
on the Anson in nearly all ways. As regards her
personnel, I never was in a ship where all the
officers, from the captain downwards, got on so
well and so happily together.
* She was at once docked at Chatham, and repaired with all
despatch. In a few months she was re-commissioned and went
to the Mediterranean.
308
GIBRALTAR AND THE BALEARIC ISLANDS
In October the Channel Fleet assembled and
we went to Gibraltar and to the Balearic Islands.
At Palma in Majorca we made acquaintance
with the Austrian Archduke Lewis Salvador and
visited him at his country place Miramar He
lived alone there, abjured all ceremony and state,
and almost the comforts of life ; spoke several
languages, EngUsh for one. The Archduke was
most kind to me, and gave me the copy of a large
book he had written about these islands.
At Majorca, the Canary Islands, and the
Philippine Islands, the Spanish Captain-General,
or Governor, was forbidden to return anv visit
afloat ; the reason given being that one such
official was once carried off in a ship.
We were much at Gibraltar, and enjoyed both
the Calpe Hounds and some paperchases, perhaps
the last most.
309
CHAPTER XXV
SECOND IN COMMAND CHANNEL SQUADRON (continued)
A Duel at Gibraltar — Madeira — Canary Islands — ^Vigo Treasure
Ships — Ceuta.
I AM fond of looking at old cemeteries ; you may
find interesting inscriptions. In one of the above
at Gibraltar, now disused, I found this :
To the memory of Midshipman Seth Amiel
Wheaton, of the United States Frigate
Washington, who fell a victim to a misplaced
sense of honour 8 February 1817.
The story was told me by Captain McCleverty
when in the Terrible, and is as follows.
The above frigate came to Gibraltar, and was
lying in the anchorage. A party of her officers, who
had stayed on shore late one night, came down to
the ' Ragged Staff ' to go off to their ship. The
rules about entering or leaving the garrison at
night are now strict, and were even more so then.
The sentry stopped the officer, and sent for the
sergeant of the guard, who in his turn called out
the officer of the guard, a subaltern, who conferred
310
ANECDOTE OF A DUEL AT GIBRALTAR
with the U.S. officers, and regretting his inability to
let them embark, offered what accommodation
he could for the night.
They, however, got angry, and made out they
were insulted. The next day the subaltern
received a challenge to fight a duel, and as such
things were done then, and he was young, and the
other was a foreign officer, he felt he must fight, did
so and was killed.
The surgeon of his regiment, who was a great
friend of his, was very angry, and happened to be
a very good shot with a pistol. He waited till the
officer who had killed his friend landed, and then
insulted him, so that he had to challenge the surgeon
whose reputation as above was well known, and
who gave out that he would kill his man.
They met on the neutral ground outside the
Rock lines ; the American had his hand in a bucket
of water to cool it, seeing which the Englishman
said : * It is not much good for I 'm certainly
going to shoot you,' which he did and killed him.
He then turned to the dead man's second and
said : ' This will do for to-day, but whenever
any of you land I will insult them, and kill them
all in turns.'
The United States Commodore, i.e. Captain,
complained to the Governor, who said he would not
interfere, so they sailed.
Leaving Gibraltar we spent Christmas at
Arosa Bay, again visiting St. lago de Compostella,
which in 1889 had for me completed the four great
Christian pilgrimages of the world, viz. Jerusalem,
Rome, Loretto, and this last. The town is
311
MY NAVAL CAREER
essentially sombre of aspect, and the Cathedral of
dark stone is especially so.
I twice visited Oporto, a pleasant town on the
high banks of the Douro. They say no one has
the gout there because they drink enough port
wine, and that medicine is certainly good. You see
it kept in immense wooden vats where it is refined.
I was told that one vat held 237 pipes of 115
gallons each, and that in six or seven years it was
fit to drink. I was also told that the Russians like
white port, and that England buys most of the
best wine. Many of the houses in Oporto are
covered outside with bright glazed tiles with
patterns on them, which much enliven the aspect
of the streets.
From Arosa we went to Vigo, and thence to
Madeira. Here the Empress of India distinguished
herself by giving a performance of * Romeo and
Juliet,' travestied, in the theatre on shore to a
crowded audience. I wrote a song for it, which
was sung. The performers were officers; the
present Commodore Rosslyn Wemyss, then a
lieutenant in the Empress, was one of the actors,
and I think was also stage manager.
We left Madeira with great regret, and went to
the Canary Islands, calling at Las Palmas in Grand
Canary ; our ship rolled here though angle of
20° at anchor. This class of vessels all rolled
heavily till bilge keels were fitted to them, with
a good result that surprised all the scientific
authorities ; but naval officers had pressed for
them. Here we came in for the carnival, and saw
much of the Spanish society.
312
* ROMEO AND JULIET '—HIDDEN TREASURE
Opinions differ about the Canary Islands and
Madeira as winter health resorts for invalids.
Of course the Canaries being nearer the equator,
and with no other thing to interfere, their climate
is warmer than that of Madeira. But in favour
of Madeira it is to be remembered that it is about
one thousand years ahead of the Canaries by
nature, and one hundred years by civilisation.
We returned in a few weeks to Gibraltar. On
reaching Cape Spartel in the night we got suddenly
into a strong levanter, and the ships pitched so that
the Vice- Admiral's cabin was suddenly flooded about
four feet deep, to the astonishment of his guest who
was in bed, and to the destruction of his furniture.
I again visited Ceuta and confirmed my
opinion that, though a mole harbour could be
made more cheaply than at Gibraltar, it is not as
suitable for a defensive fortress.
At Gibraltar our theatrical part}^ from the
Empress of India gave * Romeo and Juliet ' in the
Assembly Rooms to a full house, and had great
applause.
From the Rock we went to Vigo. There had
lately been efforts made to recover treasure from
some Spanish galleons that ran in here at the
beginning of the eighteenth century. I first
heard the story when here in 1873, but the company
was only starting then. Our Consul — a Spanish
gentleman — told it to us, and said that before
investing any money he made inquiries in the
archives of the province, and decided that the
treasure had been landed before the English
squadron followed the Spanish ships in and sank
313
, MY NAVAL CAREER
them. However, in spite of this a company was
promoted in Paris to get the treasure. Their ship
entered Vigo harbour with great eclat ; a diver
went down and came up with an ingot, which was
sent off to Paris, and raised the shares for those
who were in the swim to benefit by.
Much later I was approached in London to join
another company on the same ground, and I
related to them the above at greater length — with
what result I am not aware. I know of several
other treasure hunts in different parts of the
world, and I quite understand their fascination,
but I have never known one that succeeded.
From Vigo we went to Arosa Bay. Near here
are streams in which trout fishing should be good if
the natives did not poach the fish anyhow they can.
We arrived in Plymouth Sound, and on 24th
April 1894 I hauled my flag down and went to
London to a new appointment.
The Second in Command of the Channel
Squadron then was a very unsatisfying position,
because he had not enough work to do. Now
squadrons are larger, this fault has been somewhat
rectified. When with a rear-admiral under me
I have tried to improve this matter by giving him
work, for all good reasons.
No good officer likes to find himself without
work and responsibility, and if he has none a
fault exists somewhere. I was truly sorry to
leave my flagship and all the officers and men
in her, also to part from my friend and superior,
Vice- Admiral Fairfax, but I was not sorry to end
the appointment.
314
CHAPTER XXVI
ADMIRAL-SUPERINTENDENT OF NAVAL RESERVES
The Naval Reserves and Coastguard — Naval Manceuvres —
Coastguard's Duties — Eagle Island.
On 25th April 1894 I relieved Vice-Admiral
Sir Robert Fitzroy as Admiral-Superintendent of
Naval Reserves. This was a very interesting
appointment. The position of Admiral-Superin-
tendent of Naval Reserves then combined all the
Coastguard both afloat and on shore ; also in-
spections of all Royal Naval Reserve drill batteries
and stations, the Royal Naval Artillery Volun-
teers, and the inspection of the Worcester and
Conway training ships for young officers for the
mercantile marine ; and of all those boys' training
ships round our coasts, that were not in any way
reformatories, and from which we might take
boys into the Navy.
Added to the above was more strictly naval
work, viz. inspecting the Coastguard ships, and
organising and commanding in the summer the
squadron composed of them, and of other mobi-
lised ships, for that year's naval manoeuvres.
Much of the above is quite changed now, and the
appointment is quite different.
315
MY NAVAL CAREER
In the summer I went to sea with my flag
in the Alexandra, and commanded one of the
manoeuvring fleets. I had to visit (or should
visit) and inspect every Coastguard station in
the United Kingdom, and see that all the houses
for the 4500 men were kept in order. I have been
into every room of, I may say, the 4500 houses !
In short, there was plenty to do.
The ofiice was in London near the Admiralty,
and I had a very fine official steam yacht called
the Hawk to go about in as I felt right.
The naval manoeuvres this summer, of course,
specially interested me because I was in command
of the two squadrons on one side. We were the
Blue Fleet, and our enemy the Red one. Red
consisted of two squadrons, called A and B ; Blue
of two also, called C and D.
They united were superior to us when we also
were united, but they had to start their two
squadrons from different places and meet if they
could. My object was to catch them singly.
Each of the four squadrons started from different
places — out at sea. These places were not known
to the other side.
We knew Red's object was to unite in the St.
George's Channel, and had reason to believe that
one of them to do this would pass in round the
North of Ireland.
I joined company with my D Squadron off
the Isle of Man, then united and went to patrol
the narrow channel between that island and the
Mull of Cantyre. The details of our cruise are,
of course, many, but would weary the reader : so
316
NAVAL MANCEUVRES— COASTGUARD'S DUTIES
I will only say that eventually my object was
attained. I got into close quarters with B first,
and afterwards with A, both singly ; and was
adjudged to have won.
I must however remark, as I have before, that
which side is supposed to have won matters not a
bit, and winning is very much chance. Also that
each fleet after fighting a supposed action, even
if victorious, should be lowered as to her ' points '
of power ; for in real warfare, though victorious,
she would certainly be weakened till repaired,
&c., even if no ships were actually sunk, which I
think some would be.
I had this appointment just over three years ;
one did not want much leave, because the duties
and localities were so varied, that the series of
changes did instead.
In the beginning of 1895 we had the hardest
frost I have ever seen in England : it began 26th
January and lasted till 19th February. The
Serpentine bore immense crowds of skaters, and
the Thames was frozen over at London, and
was covered with seagulls, who now learned to
come up for their season, and have continued to
do so since.
I place a high value on the Coastguard, as a
thoroughly dependable body of well-trained men
for a Naval Reserve ; and for what the term
' Coastguard ' means, also as applied to the pro-
tection and saving of life and property in cases
of shipwreck. One of my predecessors in the
ofifice made out a Ust of various duties that the
Coastguard performed. I added to them, making
317
MY NAVAL CAREER
about sixteen in all, and I had some hundreds of
copies printed, one of which was put up in every
station's watch-room, so that any inquirer could
see how important the Coastguard is.
I was often agreeably struck with the great
respect with which both the officers and men
were invariably treated by their civilian neigh-
bours. This is a subject I could enlarge on, and
I regret that a recent influence at the Admiralty,
guided by a spirit that thought any change in the
Navy must be an improvement, has begun to
largely reduce the Coastguard.
In 1895 we again had large squadrons at sea,
but we were all combined for tactical exercises,
probably quite as useful as manoeuvres, but not
so popular with the journalists.
I landed once on Eagle Island off Blacksod
Bay on the west coast of Ireland, and saw an
astonishing proof of what the sea can do. Its west
side faces the open Atlantic, the cliff being almost
precipitous, but having in one part a very steep
incline, slightly curved in — a cleft, in fact, running
down it. On the top of this, and 180 feet above
the sea, were two lighthouses, and between them
houses for the lightkeepers and families, with a
joining wall. In December 1894, during a violent
westerly gale, the sea dashed up the 180 feet — in
green seas, I was told — pouring over the summit of
the cliff, and with such force as to destroy some of
the houses.
In 1896 we again had manoeuvres ; our side, the
Reserve Fleet, was called C and D Squadrons, and
was opposed to the Channel Fleet, called A and B
318
ENCOURAGEMENT NEEDED
Squadrons, who united were superior to us ; our
object was to defeat our enemy separately if we
could, or in any case without their defeating us
to get into Lough Swilly.
My Second in Command was the present
Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Arthur Wilson, who
devised a very wily plan, and we succeeded in
accomplishing our object.
In May 1897 I finished my appointment as
Admiral-Superintendent of Naval Reserves, with
the knowledge that there is a great deal of naval
patriotic feeling in the country, only requiring
to be encouraged and trained to usefulness. But
any sea training must be thorough to be of value.
319
CHAPTER XXVII
CHINA COMMAND
Chusan Island — Occupation of Wei-hai-wei — Nagasaki — ^Hankosv
— ^Nankin — Hong-Kong — ^Manilla — Formosa — Corea.
That autumn (1897) I was given the appointment
of Commander-in-Chief of our squadron in China.
This was without doubt the best, most important,
and most interesting appointment I ever held. I
do not mean only as events turned out, but I
consider as follows. If we were engaged in a
European war, the command of our principal
Fleet in home waters must always be the most
important naval post ; and it certainly is so now
for reasons known to everyone. But the China
station with its large area, its very varied shores
and interests — commercial and diplomatic — and
with the momentous questions relating to the new
power of Japan, the awakening of China, and the
Eastern aspirations of Russia, certainly yielded
to none in interest ten or twelve years ago.
I left England in the end of 1897, and arriving
at Hong-Kong by mail steamer, I hoisted my flag
there in the Alacrity, which is the Admiral's
official yacht, and proceeded to Chusan Island,
320
IN COMMAND OF THE CHINA STATION
where I relieved Admiral Sir Arthur BuUer and
took command of the China Station.
Chusan Island, off the mouth of the Yang-tse
River, was occupied by us in the Opium War,
1839-42. Its strategic position is undoubted, and
after discussing with Admiral Togo in Japan the
question of where China, when she got a navy^
should make her principal naval station, he gave it
to me as his opinion that it should be at Chusan.
Captain Mahan has said that the first requirement
of a naval port is being in the right geographical
position, and few, I think, dispute that.
Chusan has a poor harbour, and the tides are
strong ; and I think an island, qua island, inferior
to a port on the mainland of a nation.
In April our squadron all met at Chifu, in
consequence of strained relations with Russia,
and we prepared for any eventuality. I went to
Pekin to confer with our Minister, Sir Claude
Macdonald, and found much changed since I
left the Peiho and Tiensin twenty-eight years
before.
The Russians having now got a lease of Port
Arthur from the Chinese, our Government got one
for Wei-hai-wei — the period named being ' as long
as Russia holds Port Arthur ' ; and we took posses-
sion of our new territory on 24th May, Queen
Victoria's birthday, surely an auspicious date.
To please the Chinese we arranged that the
Japanese who were in possession should haul their
flag down on 23rd May, and the Chinese flag be
hoisted then and fly till the 24th ; so that we
should receive the place from them.
321 V
MY NAVAL CAREER
Perhaps I should briefly state that our posses-
sion called Wei-hai-wei comprises the Island of
Leu-kung-tao — which practically shelters the
anchorage in the bay, so named from the walled
town called Wei-hai-wei, which is on the mainland
at the west side of the bay. This town is a ' Fu '
or fortified city, and as such is highly valued by
the Chinese ; and it was arranged that it should
preserve its autonomy, though it actually stood
within the radius of ten miles measured inland
from the shore all round the bay of the same name,
which from its eastern to its western extreme was,
with the exception of this town, to be British
territory.
Outside the ten-mile radius was to be another
ten-mile one, neutral to us and the Chinese —
like the neutral ground at Gibraltar ; and the
land beyond that was to remain Chinese territory
as of old. This arrangement held good for about
eighteen months, when we got the Chinese to agree
that the neutral territory should be simply defined
by an imaginary line running north and south at
longitude 121° 40' E. across the Shantung pro-
montory — a sensible plan.
As a comparison of sizes, I may state that the
island of Leu-kung-tao (or Prince Leu's island)
is about two-thirds of the area of the rock of
Gibraltar.
The Navy had the management of Wei-hai-wei
entirely for over a year, and it interested me
immensely. Captain G. F. King Hall of the
Narcissus actually took over the Island of Leu-
kung-tao, and I appointed his First-lieutenant
322
WEI-HAI-WEI
(now Captain Ernest Gaunt) to be the actual
Governor. Both these officers showed what is
well known, viz. that a real sailor can fit himself
into almost any office, as if bred to it.
The Chinese had fortified both the island and
the mainland well, but the batteries were all
ruined by the Japanese siege and capture of the
place. Indeed the word ' ruin ' best describes the
state in which we foiind the island, town, dock-
yard, &c.
Prince Henry of Prussia, as Admiral in com-
mand of the German squadron in China, visited
me at Wei-hai-wei a few days after our occupation,
and walking through the town with me said : ' It
looks as if there had been an earthquake, and all
the people had run away.' And that was what it
did look like.
We set to work to make the place as useful
as possible to us as a naval station ; for this,
much had to be done. I will not inflict details on
my kind readers, but in praise of Wei-hai-wei
generally I have no hesitation in saying, that no
place I know of exists, that is better than it for
the health and discipline of a squadron.
I set my officers to examine and survey the
whole of our territory, both afloat and on shore.
Later on, to perfect these surveys, a surveying
ship and a corps of Royal Engineers were sent, and
forts were commenced to be adequate, as the
expression is, to refuse the anchorage to raiding
cruisers. These forts were well in hand when I
left the station, but the home authorities then
altered their minds and left them unfinished.
323 ^2
MY NAVAL CAREER
One of my captains taking a passage in a
local steamer found sitting next him a Chinese
gentleman, who talked good English and said :
* So I see we have got Wei-hai-wei/ He replied:
' Yes, but I do not quite understand/ to which the
Chinaman answered : * Oh, I 'm English, I was born
at Hong-Kong/
A celestial who came from Hong-Kong
Said ' In spite of my pigtail so long
I 'm a Britisher born/
And he spoke with much scorn
Of the heathen Chinee and his gong.
It is sometimes amusing to hear how the
British Bluejackets mispronounce some ships'
names. For instance the Hermione is called as
three words, ' her my own/ When that ship
joined my flag I thought the following doggerel
might cure the above error:
Cried the yeoman in rapturous tone,
' She is coming, it is Her my own ' ;
Said the Midshipman, ' Fie on ye,
Call her " Hermione,"
One would think you were Darby and Joan.'
The summer of 1898 I spent mostly at Wei-
hai-wei, but I visited Japan, for the too short
time I could spare ; we always looked upon it as
our holiday resort, and every ship was pleased
when I sent her there.
Nagasaki was the best known place, partly
because it was the first port opened to Western
nations, but also because, besides being a very
good harbour, it was the nearest to get to. The
Russian men-of-war most of all frequented it, as
324
HANKOW AND NANKIN
a delightful retreat in winter from ice-bound
Vladivostok.
In the autumn I went up the Yang-tse to
Hankow, where I called on the Viceroy Chang-
Chih-Tung, who is a very up-to-date Chinese
official.
Lord Charles Beresford was at Hankow at
the same time on his commercial mission to China, i
and soon after my interview with the Viceroy, he
also had one. When I again came up there, the
Consul, who always was present as interpreter at
official visits, told me that the next time he saw
the Viceroy after Lord Charles's visit the Viceroy
said : ' Is Lord Charles Beresford a rebel ? ' and
on being answered in the negative, explained
that he thought so because at one time he
had said to the Viceroy, 'Well, if our Govern-
ment won't do [something] my party will make
them.'
The Yang-tse differs immensely in the height
of its waters ; in the late spring when the snows
far inland melt, the river at Hankow rises fifty
feet. But as regards Hankow it is not fifty feet
deeper because the stream brings down much mud
which raises the bottom temporarily by many
feet.
I called at Nankin, and had an interview
with the Viceroy, who is styled Viceroy of the
'Two Kiangs'; his name was Liu-Kun-yi. We
made great friends then, and while I was in China ;
and he was the ideal of what a great gentleman
in such a post should be. During the disturbances
^ See his book The break-up of China.
325
; MY NAVAL CAREER
of 1900 it was he who kept the Yang-tse region
quiet.
The question of Pekin being the capital of
China, instead of its former one, Nankin, seems to
me much as if, in the days when we and the Scotch
were fooHsh enough to be cutting each other's
throats, instead of combining together, they had
got the better of us, and then moved the capital
from London to Carlisle.
I visited the Kiang-yin forts, by permission
of the Viceroy. They are on the heights a few
miles below Nankin, a commanding site which, if
properly armed and held, with the river passage
well mined, would quite bar the river to an enemy.
That winter was spent mostly at Hong-Kong,
which is our China headquarters. It is said that
more tonnage of shipping — including, of course,
all Chinese junks and other craft — passes through
Hong-Kong harbour in a year than through any
other port in the world. The hospitality and
agreeable society of Sir Henry Blake, our able
Governor here, and of Lady Blake, added to that
of other friends at Hong-Kong, made it a sort of
home for our squadron.
The importance of Hong-Kong to our squadron
and our trade can hardly be overrated. It is
fortified of course, but neither in its defences nor
its garrison could it pretend to stand a siege.
This might be said of many of our possessions ;
the reply I suppose being, that we hope to com-
mand the sea — a hope not so easy of fulfilment
now as it was before those modern navies, not
requiring my mention, arose.
326
MANILA AND FORMOSA
I went to Manila to visit Admiral Dewey of the
United States Navy in his new conquest, and to
see what was going on. I had known him several
years before, also since, and class him as a real
friend. As regards his Manila work, he risked
imcertainty, and did all that could be done quite
well. That he had not a hard fight is no part
of the question.
I found them expecting civil war in the island,
and on inquiry learnt that I could by going
several miles into the country have an interview
with Aquinaldo. Perhaps I was anxious to see
him, but I intended to show him the absurdity of
his hoping to get the better of a contest with the
United States.
I found him in no way impressive, in build
medium height, slight, and rather like a Japanese.
He spoke little, perhaps because his Spanish was
only passable, and the island patois his usual
tongue ; our interview was most friendly, but did
no good.
I cannot praise what I heard of the Spanish
rule and conduct generally in these islands, but
details are best omitted. The United States
have in the Philippine Islands a task which
requires the British special ability to carry out.
In March 1899 I visited Formosa ; it is not
well off for harbours. The east coast is precipi-/
tous, and the west the more approachable. Th(
Japanese were getting the better of the mountain
tribes, whose only weakness was a wish to acquire
as many human heads as possible. They had
souls too lofty only to care for money.
327
MY NAVAL CAREER
In the autumn I went to Corea, riding up
from Chemulpo to Seoul, the capital, twenty-five
miles of dreary road. Our Resident sent down
for me a horse considered worthy of my exalted
position; it took two men to hold him while I
mounted, and so impressed was he with the event,
that as soon as I was on his back he immediately
reared up and threw himself backw^ards prostrate
on the road — a demonstration I could easily have
dispensed with. However no harm was done, and
eventually he carried me up to the capital of the
' Hermit Kingdom.'
It is curious to reflect that thirty years ago
Corea was as little known as Thibet was then. I
never saw a race so devoid of energy, either mental
or physical, as the Coreans are. My journal shows
me that I then noted Japan's influence as pre-
dominant ; her intentions were no doubt fixed
before that date.
I had an interview with the Emperor of Corea,
during which Captain A. Smith Dorrien made
an excellent sketch of his Majesty which appeared
in Vanity Fair of 19th October 1899. The
Emperor I believe has never got over the shock
he experienced in 1895, when some Japanese broke
into the Palace and murdered his Queen. He
then took refuge for a year in the Russian Legation.
Corea has great possibilities, and no wonder the
Japanese wanted it. Besides its inland value, its
good harbours so near Japan, especially Masampo,
must attract a rising naval power.
328
CHAPTER XXVIIl
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
H.M.S. Bonaveniure grounding — Vladivostok — Russian Tartary
— Convict Prison — Japan — The Yang-tse Rapids.
That autumn (1899) I took the squadron to
Russian Tartary. On entering Kornilof Bay we
nearly had a disaster. Our previous squadrons
had several times been there, and the charts
were thought good.
We were in single column line ahead, when
I ordered the Bonaventure to quit the line and
take up a berth arranged previously for some
intended manoeuvres. To do this she came up
on my starboard beam, about two cables off. I
was looking at her, when I saw her bow rise into
the air a few feet, and the ship stop. Of course
|5 I knew she was on a rock. We at once anchored,
' and set to work to lighten the Bonaventure and
get her off. In about three days, with very hard
work and two vessels towing her astern at full
speed, we got her off, and she was saved.
These accidents, however, have their bright
side, as they do not only exactly call forth, but
they show, the immense zeal in our service, among
both the officers and the men. No excitement
329
MY NAVAL CAREER
of action with an enemy, no hope of promotion
or distinction for war service, no prospect of
prize money, or other reward exists ; but the
strongest emulation is there to save a ship of
their squadron, and to assist her unfortunate
crew. It is this sort of thing that, even in time
of peace, shows that the right spirit still exists
in our Navy.
We were very fortunate in two things : first,
that the sea kept fairly smooth ; secondly, that
she was not a very large ship, and was sheathed
with wood, which both helped to protect her
and facilitated patching her up. It might have
been one of my battleships that grounded, and
if so, from my experience of the Howe, I consider
she would have been lost.
I finished the matter by a court martial,
which showed that the only thing to blame was
the rock for being there ; unless indeed it were
the fault of those who surveyed the harbour,
and had not discovered the above offender.
I went to Vladivostok, where the Russians
received us with that friendly, half informal and
warm-hearted hospitality they always show,
in my experience. Admiral Dubasoff, afterwards
Governor of Moscow in the troublous times, was
the Commander-in-Chief.
Vladivostok, which means ' Dominion of the
East/ is a splendid harbour, its almost only
drawback being that it is frozen over in winter.
They showed me the ice breaker with which
they keep the passage pretty clear in winter ;
it was built at Copenhagen, and is about 200 feet
330
VLADIVOSTOK
long ; it has a very great shear, in shape like a
crescent moon of seven days old on its back ; it
is driven ahead by a screw in the stern ; the bow
rides up on any ice it meets, and a small screw
forward is then turned astern to suck the water
from under the ice, and the weight of the forepart
of the vessel, then helped if required by filling a
water chamber in the bows, is said to be able
to break through thirty-three inches of ice for
a distance of a mile in an hour.
It interested me very much to consider how
Vladivostok should be attacked from the sea, and
I could not help thinking I saw a means. Plans,
however, are easy, and practice is another thing.
No doubt the Muscovite would show his tenacity
of possession, as well here as at Sevastopol and
Port Arthur.
The Russian regulation limiting the number of
men-of-war that may be in one of their ports at
the same time makes visiting a series of them
rather difficult with a large squadron. I believe
it originated from the entry in a thick fog of our
China Squadron to Vladivostok under the com-
mand of Admiral Sir V H , a fine piece
of pilotage, and worthy of our Navy.
Talking of animals, I was told in conversa-
tion that wolves and dogs breed together at
times, and the offspring are not ' mules,' but
continue to do so ; the first cross is said to be
fully as savage as a wolf, but further on they
tone down. The Russians also said that wild
horses, to protect themselves from the wolves,
form a circle of the mares with their heads inwards
33^
MY NAVAL CAREER
towards the foals, and their heels outwards, while
the stallions patrol round outside them.
I gradually worked North as far as Castries
Bay, but we were not allowed to enter the Amur
River.
Our chief sporting amusement was to fish —
sometimes the ships' companies with the seine net
— often trolling from boats, sometimes with a fly
for salmon. Fish are abundant in some places.
To fish I went a few miles through a forest,
and found what I had heard, viz. that the flies
and midges are almost maddening ; you can hardly
rest for them, and cases have occurred of their
bites causing the face to swell so as nearly to
obscure the sight.
I went to Saghalien Island, as I was anxious
to visit the great convict prison there, at Alexand-
rovski ; they showed me, I think, everything
there. The island is a little larger than Scotland.
There was a strong garrison of troops ; the soldiers
are kept here five years, and I was greatly struck
with their fine physique. Several men raised a
weight of eighty pounds with one hand over the
head, and some tossed it over and caught it with
the other hand.
The prison contained about 1300 convicts, a
great number being murderers. They fell a
large number in, and let me walk along the ranks
and inspect them. They looked well fed and
healthy; I also saw and tasted their food. A
very few spoke English, and were allowed to
speak to me. They have not solitary cells, but
a good many are lodged in one room. For
332
SAGHALIEN ISLAND
severe insubordination in the prison, or attacks
on warders, the knout is administered. It is a
fearful scourge, and only a few blows with it
can be made to kill. But for lesser offences
being chained to a wheelbarrow is the punish-
ment. I saw some men so situated; one they
said had been so for three years, but he looked
pretty jolly on it ; the chains allow them to
lie down. I would much rather be chained to a
wheelbarrow than to a good many men I know of.
Some of my readers will remember the remark of
the Scotch lady when she heard her son was
fastened in a chain gang : ' I pity the man who
is chained to our Sandy ! '
But as regards Saghalien and its prison life :
according to the convict's sentence and behaviour,
it depends on when he shall be let out of prison,
and be given land to live on and cultivate, and
he may have a wife, and the comforts — or other-
wise — of domestic life. But he may not return
to Russia. However, in view of the interesting
works by Mr. de Windtz, I should apologise for
even the above digression.
Russian Tartary along the sea coast consists
mostly of land densely covered with forest ; the
climate is no doubt very severe in winter, but it
is healthy. I visited ' Pallas Bay,' so called
because in 1855 the Russians there burnt their
frigate of that name to prevent her falling into
our hands.
We next went to Yezo Island and spent some
time in Hakodate harbour ; I happened to be
there on the day when England's agreement,
333
MY NAVAL CAREER
that in future the Japanese might try the offenders
of our nation if hving in Japan, became vahd.
It seemed a parody on this (as a rather un-
civiHsed custom) that the same day boatloads of
natives, many evidently ladies, came off to see
our ships, the boats being rowed by men per-
fectly naked ; and no one thought more of it
than if they all were negroes in tropical Africa,
not so much perhaps. After all custom seems
everything.
The Japanese war with Russia was no sudden
and unexpected accident ; looking back to my
journal of 1899, I there see I was often told of
the hostile feeling existing, and that 1903 was
the date of preparation looked forward to, when
great events might be expected.
That autumn, by kind invitation of Prince
Henry of Prussia, Admiral commanding the
German Squadron out here, I visited him at
Kia-chow Bay, the real name of the German
settlement being Tsingtau. We rode about the
country near, and I was struck with the very
practical way everything was planned out and
pushed forward. The commercial prosperity of
the port must, I think, depend on the railway
communication with the interior.
In October I found time to go up the Yang-tse
as far as Kweichow. At Hankow one took the
local steamer to Ichang, and then embaiked in
H.M.S. Woodcock (Lieutenant and Commander
Hugh Watson). She was one of a class sent out
from England in boxes, and put together at
Shanghai. She had a flat bottom, and only drew
334
YANG-TSE RIVER
about eighteen inches. She could steam about
twelve knots, and in passing up the rapids at that
speed she sometimes was stationary, which shows
what the current was. It was quite exciting
work, and even more so coming down. Rocks
abound, and to strike one, of course, means to
be sunk.
The Chinese trade is done by light junks
which are tracked up the river to Chung-king.
For this work some 300,000 men are employed.
At Ichang there is a large establishment called
the Tracker's Guild-house, where these men lodge
while awaiting a job. Having got to Chung-
king, they work their way back to Ichang,
partly in the returning junks, and partly carry-
ing loads by land. Junks are often lost at the
rapids, and many men drowned. We saw a
good many wrecks scattered about.
The scenery of the Yang-tse in the gorges is
magnificent ; I remember one gorge, the Ninkau,
with a perpendicular cliff 700 feet high, the
width of the river there being about 280 yards.
In such a place the river rises 70 feet from low
to high water.
335
CHAPTER XXIX
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
H.R.H. Prince Henry of Prussia — Siam — Borneo.
November 1899 saw me again at Hong-Kong,
where I found H.R.H. Prince Henry of Prussia with
most of his squadron. We exchanged more than
civihties — very friendly hospitahties ; and as
he was soon to be leheved in his command, I
took leave of him, but with real regret, and the
feeling that he had a great regard for England,
and a true sailorlike warmth of heart.
The China Station is so large that no Admiral
can in three years visit it all, or even its important
parts ; but I was anxious to see what I could of
the southern parts, and left in December for
Siam.
We anchored outside the Menam River, on
which is the capital Bangkok, where I proceeded
in a gunboat. The (now late) King, Chulalon-
korn, lodged me in the house of Admiral de
Richelieu, a Dane, who was the head of the
Siamese Navy— a not very onerous task; but
its chief was a most agreeable host.
The King struck me as unusually energetic
336
SIAM
and intelligent. In fact, I described him as a
little German Emperor. He also spoke English
quite well. He gave a large banquet in the
Palace, at which the servants who waited were
said to be gentlemen.
Siam is a very hot place; but to cool the
dining-room, instead of punkahs, men stood behind
the guests waving immense ornamental fans.
I never was at a place so infested with insects
of all kinds as Bangkok is. We had a banquet on
board the King's yacht, at which small flying
things innumerable kept descending, so that all
the wine-glasses were covered over, and the
covers only lifted while you drank. In your
bedroom you had the cheerful company of lizards
of kinds, besides things aerial ; but I believe they
were nearly all quite harmless.
Siam is, of course, the land of elephants. In
the King's stables at least one white one — so
called, really grey, or dirty white; they are
albinos, I believe — is kept as a kind of fetish.
I rode on an elephant and found its paces, when
going fast, rough beyond expectation. They are
said often to live a hundred years in captivity,
and it is thought much longer when wild.
The Siamese may be shortly described as
rather darker than the Japanese, better looking
as regards the men ; but the women on the
whole rather less attractive, though by no means
without charm. Both sexes wear their hair
short; the women would look nicer if they did
not chew betel nut !
From Siam I went to Singapore. The importance
337 «
MY NAVAL CAREER
of it to us is undoubted, and efforts have been
made to fortify it ; but it is a very difficult place
to defend.
I visited the prison, which I had done before
in 1877 ; it was much the same, only increased
in size. The Chinese form the greater part of
the gaol birds. I was told that men were put in
prison here for running off with other men's
wives. How would that answer in England ?
We got at Singapore a small black bear, which
became the devoted friend of my dog ' Jim,' a
pointer. They used to play together till tired,
and then lie down and sleep in company. Alas !
both came to untimely ends by falls in the ship
in 1900.
I was anxious to see Borneo, and went first to
Sarawak, where I was very kindly entertained
by the Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, at his house,
situated near Kuching, the capital. I believe his
kingdom is kept in very good order, to do which
he had both a regiment and a prison.
This is, of course, the land of orang-outangs.
I saw none alive but several stuffed ; they are
difficult to export, being very sensitive to change
of climate. While here I saw a crocodile's egg
opened, and a young one eleven inches long came
out and ran about merrily.
I visited the Sultan of Brunnei, an old man,
very courteous, and almost dignified. He had
several curious old brass cannon, about 6- and
9-pounders, but highly ornamented with figures
of men and animals.
Brunnei lies between Sarawak and British
338
BORNEO
North Borneo, which last place we acquired in
1880 from the above Sultan. It has an area of
30,000 square miles, almost the same size as
Scotland, and should become very valuable. Its
harbour, at the Island of Labuan, is an important
position, and especially valuable on account of the
coal found there ; and, being about midway up
the China Sea and opposite Cochin China, it might
in a war be of great strategic value.
I stayed in the Government House at Labuan,
with our Resident, Mr. Keyser. It is said to be
haunted by the ghost of a pirate who became a
Roman Catholic priest, but again reverted to his
former indiscretions. I tried at midnight to see
him by visiting his haunts, but with my usual
bad luck in such things, I failed.
I went to Sandakhan, which is the capital of
British North Borneo, and was informed here
that orang-outangs — or mias — are very human
if kindly treated, and become not at all savage ;
that they live sometimes for forty years ; but I
was told the story of one who proved his actual
civilisation by drinking himself to death.
I was given what is extremely rare, viz. a
* Buntat Klapa,' which is a white stone as hard as
marble ; they are found inside cocoanuts, but you
would probably not find more than one in 10,000
nuts. Pearls, emeralds, &c., are quite common in
comparison, as regards facility of acquisition — only
a little money is wanted for them ; but you might
search all London and not get a Buntat Klapa, no
matter what sum you offered.
I returned to Hong-Kong via Manila, where I
339 ^2
MY NAVAL CAREER
found our friends the Americans busy trying to
pacify the wily PhiHppino.
While at Hong-Kong I naade a trip up the
west river — or Si Kiang — in our river gunboat the
Sandpiper (Lieutenant and Commander the Hon.
Arthur Forbes Semphill). This river runs into
the Canton River ; it was infested with pirates,
and our gunboats have been very useful in sup-
pressing them.
In the spring as usual I went North, visiting
many places, and in May found myself at Wei-
hai-wei, and went to visit our Minister at Pekin,
I stayed there till i8th May, and then returned to
Wei-hai-wei ; no one having the slightest sus-
picion of what was very soon to happen in North
China.
China indeed is a land of surprises, and partly
because there is no semblance of a universal
patriotism. The north and the south have no
more community of national feeling than has
Germany with Spain. Railways, telegraphs, and
Western education may gradually bring about the
existence of a united and homogeneous China,
and if so then she may become a powerful and
armed nation. But I think the danger of the
' Yellow peril ' is still very far off.
340
CHAPTER XXX
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
The Boxer Rising — Our Preparations — Our Expedition starts —
Tiensin — Lang-fang — ^Desert Trains — Taku Forts — Peitsang
— ^Hsiku Arsenal.
This memoir of mine is in no way a history, and
therefore as regards the Boxer Rising of 1900 I
shall only attempt to say what came under my
personal notice, with such other short remarks as
seem necessary for coherency. The actual account
of the affair has been better dealt with as history
elsewhere, in various books.
I will only here remark that the Taiping
rebellion was anti-dynastic, and the Boxer rising
was anti-foreign, i.e. intended to turn the Western
nations out of China. The Boxers were called
I-ho-chiian, meaning, ' the patriotic harmony
fists.' The word * Taiping ' can, I believe, be
translated as ' great tranquillity.' If so, and they
named themselves, perhaps they had read in
Tacitus' ' Agricola,' * Solitudinem faciunt pacem
appellant ' — applicable possibly to their awful
destruction of human life.
My first notice of anything unusual was on the
341
MY NAVAL CAREER
28th May at Wei-hai-wei, when I got a telegram
from Sir Claude Macdonald at Pekin, to say the
Boxers were troublesome and a guard was wanted.
Some Marines were at once sent in compliance.
On 31st May more serious news arrived, so I
at once proceeded with some ships to the anchorage
off the Taku Bar, where we were joined by other
vessels of various nationalities.
Let me here remark as follows. The general
history of our dealings with China has been that
we have forced ourselves undesired upon them and
into their country. I believe we are too apt to
forget this, and not to make those allowances in
consequence, that we certainly should make for
our own behaviour in case any foreign nation
tried to intrude themselves by force on us. But
Crabbe's well-known lines beginning —
How is it men, when they in judgment sit
On the same faults now censure now acquit
apply to nations as much as to men. I might
easily enlarge on this subject by dilating on the
religious question, on the opium trade, on the war
of 1840, and on events both before and after
that ; but that is not my theme.
Arrived off the Taku Bar, affairs soon got
more serious, but it was quite easy for me to see
what to do. Fortunately for me I was the senior
of all the admirals on the station, so it was my
place to initiate proceedings.
Men-of-war of the following nations were
present — Russian, French, German, and United
States with admirals in command ; and Austrian,
342
BOXER RISING
Italian and Japanese with captains. I at once
invited these officers to consultations on board my
flagship, in order that we might all act in har-
mony if possible. We agreed that, if required, an
alHed Naval Brigade should be landed, and advance
on Pekin.
This brigade, I felt, I was the proper person
to command, and I telegraphed to the Admiralty
certain proposals regarding it, for the Foreign
Office to consider, and, if approved, to act on. I
might add that I was, of course, anxious that
my own officers and men should not be under
foreign command, which my going would avoid.
However, time was not given us for any
reply, when on gth June Captain Jellicoe,i my
Flag-captain whom I had sent to Tiensin
for information, returned about ii p.m. with a
message from Sir Claude Macdonald to say that
unless help was immediate it would be too late.
This was, of course, enough ground for me to
act on.
Our arrangements for landing if required had
been made, so we were ready, and at i a.m. on
the loth we were off. I went in the Fame, a
destroyer commanded by Lieutenant Roger Keyes,^
who managed very well, though in a dark night
and with a falling tide, to get us to the landing
place at Tonghu, where we got a train and left for
Tiensin.
Of course I had to act without anv home
authority, but in such cases, whether success or
^ Now Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, K.C.V.O., C.B.
2 Now Captain.
343
MY NAVAL CAREER
failure attends you, England nearly always
approves an officer who has evidently done his
best. I never could understand why anyone
minds taking responsibility. You have only to
do what seems proper, and if it turns out badly
it is the fault of Nature for not having made
you cleverer.
I, of course, informed my foreign colleagues
of my start, and their various contingents followed
as soon as possible. I may here with pleasure
truly remark that throughout the operations in
China in 1900 I always met with the most kind
co-operation and help from all the naval foreign
officers I had to deal with, with perhaps one
exception, which did no harm, and is best not
described. Also that the foreign officers under
my command invariably acted in perfect harmony
with me.
This may be accounted for as follows : First, I
was the senior naval officer on the station, and
a head was necessary ; secondly, we had all one
common object ; thirdly, that we were all sailors,
among whom a certain sort of freemasonry, or
brotherhood, always exists.
At Tiensin we had some trouble in getting
trains to go on towards Pekin, but no excuses
were listened to, and we were prepared to use
force if necessary to get them. In a couple of
hours we were off on the Pekin line.
At Yang-tsun, about fifteen miles above
Tiensin, is the railway bridge over the Peiho
River ; here we found General Nieh's troops, some
4000 strong, but we exchanged friendly greet-
344
FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH BOXERS
ings, crossed the river, and went on till that
afternoon, when we had to stop and repair the
line which the Boxers had torn up.
Next day we were joined by other trains,
making our force up to about 1866 all told of
eight nationalities, which I give in the order of
their numbers : British, 915 (double any other),
German next, then Russian, French, United
States, Japanese, Italian, and Austrian. My
own staff was: Flag-captain, Captain J. R.
Jellicoe ; Secretary, F. C. Alton ; Flag-lieutenant,
F. A. Powlett; and Lieutenant G. M. K. Fair,
R.N., as Intelligence Officer, and Midshipman
E. O. B. S. Osborne as A.D.C.
At Tiensin my staff was joined by Captain
Clive Bigham (late Grenadier Guards), and by
Mr. C. W. Campbell, of the Chinese Service ; the
latter was most useful as a Chinese interpreter,
and the former from a knowledge of more than
one foreign tongue.
From now onwards till further progress became
impossible owing to the destruction of the railway,
we were constantly repairing torn-up rails and
broken bridges ; but a difhculty not less than
these was to get water for the engines, the
Boxers having destroyed the station water
supplies.
Our first encounter with the Boxers was on
nth June, just below Lang-fang station, where
they attacked us, and came on with decided
courage, losing some thirty-five men killed. It
was said — I believe with truth — that these fanatics
had been persuaded that they were invulnerable,
345
MY NAVAL CAREER
and, after some had been killed, it was added that
they would in a few days revive.
Lang-fang station was the farthest we could
get the trains to, the line above it being very
badly destroyed. It is about forty miles above
Tiensin and half-way to Pekin.
A party of Marines under Major J. R. Johnstone,
R.M.L.I.,1 reconnoitred on nearly to the next
station, Anping, but the line was too badly
damaged for us to repair it. We were now isolated,
with no transport or means to advance, and cut
off from our base behind.
For this position I make no apology, for in
view of the Pekin message mentioned on p. 343
an immediate dash to save the Legations was
the only course to pursue. For five days we
held on to Lang-fang station, unwilling to
move backwards, and in hopes of better pros-
pects ; and desultory fighting with the Boxers
went on.
On the i6th it became evident we could not
approach nearer to Pekin, and that therefore
our stay here was both useless and impracticable,
and that our only course was to return to Tiensin
and then act according to circumstances — a possible
advance by the river, in view of the railway's
destruction, being in my mind.
By great exertions we were able to repair the
line so as to move the trains back nearly to the
bridge across the river at Yang-tsun, but we
then found the bridge there so damaged that it
was impossible to cross it. But it was important
* Now Major-General and C.B.
346
CAPTURE OF THE TAKU FORTS
to have got so near to the river, because we were
then able to seize some Chinese junks and in
them get transport for our wounded men, and
our provisions, our field-guns, and ammunition.
The forced desertion of the trains was sad,
and we had to leave much private property
behind us ; in fact, to go on with only our arms
and what we could carry, besides the junks for
the above purposes.
The Taku forts were taken on the 17th, about
which various opinions have been held. First,
as to the propriety of taking the forts ; and,
secondly, as to the effect so doing had on the
Chinese authorities and their subsequent conduct.
One view [pro) is that as things appeared to be,
with fighting already going on up country, it was
a grave error to leave such forts in the hands of
the enemy in our rear, and to cut off our inland
communications with the Fleet and the sea. The
other view (con) was that we were only at war
with the Boxers, a sort of rebels, but that we
were friends with the Chinese Government and
authorities who held the forts, and so that we
had no business to attack them.
The question was of necessity settled by the
conclave of Admirals off the Peiho in my absence,
so I had nothing to do with it. The Chinese
said afterwards that had we left the forts in
their hands they would not have countenanced
the Boxers as they did. Of course our attacking
the forts, held as they were by the Government's
troops, was nothing more or less than an act of
war against China. All the national representatives
347
MY NAVAL CAREER
in fact did not consent to it, but there was a
sufficient majority.
My own unbiased opinion is that under the
peculiar circumstances we were right to act as
we did and to take the Taku forts. It is a
curious fact that my flag was flying on that
occasion on board the Algerine (Commander
R. H. Stewart) — a unique instance perhaps of an
Admiral's flag flying in action, he not being
present.
This was the second occasion of the Admiral's
flag of one of my family flying at the capture of
the Taku forts (see Chapter VIII). I may also
remark that I have gone three times to China,
and that each time we went to war, and took
the above forts.
General Nieh's troops had now become hostile
to us. On the i8th we abandoned the trains,
and escorting the junks, started towards Tiensin,
on the left bank of the river. The weather was
very hot, but it was curious how few succumbed
to it; I suppose because it was a dry heat. It
caused much thirst, to quench which the very
uninviting river had often to be resorted to.
No doubt to campaign in a moderate tempera-
ture is the pleasantest ; but if it must be extreme
either way, by all means give me heat rather
than cold, especially for rest at night.
We could already hear the firing of heavy
guns in the direction of Tiensin, which hastened
our efforts. The distance by river was about
thirty miles, but owing to the shallow water the
junks often grounded and delayed us. We also
348
OPERATIONS AT PEITSANG
came to numerous villages held by Boxers, who
caused much delay while our guns were brought
into action, and the places attacked and taken.
All this time on our flank were Chinese troops
with light guns, from which they frequently
fired on us. Our provisions were reduced to
something like half rations, but it is astonishing
how little food you can do with for a short time.
On the 20th I see noted in my journal : ' Fight-
ing nearly all day, and only made about eight
miles' progress/ I sometimes noticed that on
attacking a place, the fire seemed to get heavier
when we got close to, but the bullets much fewer ;
and the explanation was that at the last, if retreat
was decided on, the Chinese set light to a large
quantity of crackers that made a great noise
and emitted much smoke.
On the 2ist we had, perhaps, our hardest fight,
at Peitsang, a large town, which after some
hours we took. Here my Flag-captain (Jellicoe)
was very seriously wounded, after which I re-
quested Captain von Usedom, of the German
Imperial Navy, to act as my Chief of the Staff ;
and authorised him if I were killed to command
the expedition. His services to me were most
valuable, and as loyal as if he had been in our
Navy, showing the unanimity with which our
mixed nationalities* force acted.
A curious episode occurred that day. We had got
one or two more junks to hold the wounded, and I
sent some men on board to examine and prepare
them ; no sooner had they reached the decks than,
as if in a pantomime, the closed hatches flew open,
349
MY NAVAL CAREER
and out popped some women and children and
leaped over the side into the river, preferring
drowning to falling into the hands of the * foreign
devils/ Some of my people jumped after them to
save them, my Flag-lieutenant for one. Though
it was warm weather it was not pleasant for those
who did so to get their only suit of clothes wet ;
no one having two suits.
On another occasion we had just taken a
village, when a Chinese woman threw herself into
a well to escape. It was covered with a large
stone slab, and the hole was so small it barely
admitted a human being. The Germans saw this
happen, and managed cleverly to move the stone
and fish the woman out alive ; then coming to
ask me what to do with her. She was young and
good looking, but, of course, dripping wet and
nearly dead with fright ; but she had preferred
death to captivity.
That night was rather a trying one. We were
all tired and hungry. The sound of firing towards
Tiensin and occasional shells falling near us were
adverse to sleep, but mattered less as we had not
time for it.
I decided that as soon as we could get the
freshly wounded ready in the above junks we had
fortunately found, we must push on in the night.
Of course our position was an anxious one ; it
appeared quite possible we might be surrounded and
a disaster occur ; the Chinese never give quarter,
and any of our officers or men who fell into their
hands were at once killed. It often occurred to
me what a very curious scene such an international
350
AN UNKNOWN ARSENAL
holocaust would be. But I never regretted our
coming on the expedition, and should not have
regretted it whatever occurred, as I considered it
was the proper and only thing to do. The wounded
men were our chief anxiety.
On the 22nd we started at 1.15 A.M., and before
daylight carried the first village that resisted us,
by a charge of our Marines. About this time a
junk with some of our guns in was sunk, but
happily no wounded men were in her.
About daylight to our surprise we found our-
selves abreast of a fortified position on the right
(or opposite) bank of the river. Out of this came
a few soldiers in uniform. They hailed us to ask
who we were, &c., and we answered ' A friendly
force on our way to Tiensin.' I thought at
first they would let us pass, but instead of that
almost at once a heavy volley of small arms
was opened on us from their ramparts, showing
that they had been on the look out and known of
our approach.
I should here say that the reason we were
surprised was that the existence of Hsiku arsenal,
which this proved to be, was before unknown to us ;
and further I may add that though, of course,
not so intended by the Chinese, their firing on us
probably saved our combined force, because it led
to our taking the arsenal, and sheltering in it,
which without this hostile act on their part I could
not have done ; and had we continued on towards
Tiensin with our junks of wounded, through
the narrow and intricate watercourse just above
Tiensin, and with forts on both sides of it, we
351
MY NAVAL CAREER
should almost certainly have met with a complete
disaster.
It was at once evident we must take the
arsenal. To do this I sent our Marines under
Major Johnstone, R.M.L.I., to cross the river
higher up and attack Hsiku at its north-east side,
while the Germans did so at the south-west part,
and so it was taken. We found it a complete
enclosed work, rectangular in shape, and about
700 yards long on the river side, and its area some
30 to 40 acres. Inside were several edifices, a
temple, barracks and other buildings, but most
important of all a large stone arsenal containing
a great quantity of field-guns, rifles, ammunition
for the above, and other warlike stores.
Some of us found arms and ammunition like
our own here. In fact it was an arsenal of great
importance. There was also a very large store
of rice. I decided at once to rest here at least
for a day, everyone being nearly worn out for
want of sleep and food.
We were almost immediately attacked by
General Nieh's troops in great force, who tried to
recapture the place, but were repulsed. In this
affair the Commander of the German cruiser
Hertha, a very fine officer, was killed.
Early next morning we were again attacked by
a large force, some of whom had actually got over
the walls in the darkness. Again we repulsed them,
but with loss to ourselves — among others Captain
Beyts, R.M.A., of the Centurion, being kiUed.
It was now plain that the forces between us
and Tiensin made it impossible to make our way
352
IN TOUCH WITH THE SETTLEMENT
there ; especially with our large number of wounded.
Our force was distributed as seemed best, the
French under Capitaine de Vaisseau Marolles
occupying the arsenal itself at the south-east part
of the enclosure. The constant firing in that
direction was, however, a sort of comfort, as
showing that the European settlements still held
out, and our immediate objects were to fortify our
position and communicate with our friends in the
settlement.
This last was accomplished on the 24th by
Captain Bigham's Chinese servant, who took a
cypher message from me, which, however, being
searched, he had to eat ; but he got to the Consulate
and told where we were.
On 24th we had a very bad dust storm ; you
could only bear to look to leeward, and then could
see but a few yards, and had we been attacked
from windward, the enemy would have had a
very great advantage.
As soon as our position was known in the Tien-
sin settlement, a force to relieve us and help us
to reach that place was arranged. It consisted
mostly of Russian troops, lately arrived from
Port Arthur, and commanded by Colonel
Sherinsky, with some of our own and other
nationalities. Early on the 25th they appeared
in sight, and soon closed us on the other side of the
river.
The Colonel said he was told to return as soon
as possible, and I agreed to start early next
morning ; but would not move that day as it
took long to prepare the wounded and get them
353 2 A
MY NAVAL CAREER
across the river ; and also because I must have
the contents of this important arsenal destroyed,
to prevent their falling into the enemy's hands.
Our relief was especially welcome because,
though we could defend ourselves and had plenty
of ammunition, food was very scarce, and hunger
was becoming a very serious question.
During the night we crossed the river and at
3 A.M. started on a circuitous route to the settle-
ment, which we reached in about six hours.
The arsenal had been prepared for destruction
by the French, and I entrusted to Lieutenant
E. G. Lowther Crofton, R.N., of the Centurion,
the duty of actually firing it. The explosions and
conflagration lasted more than one day, and the
loss to the Chinese was very^great.
354
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CHAPTER XXXI
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
Defence of the Tiensin Settlements — Capture of the Chinese
Arsenals — General Fukusima.
I FOUND the European settlements in a complete
state of siege ; they are all on the right bank of
the Peiho, and situated just below the Chinese
walled city of Tiensin ; from which a rather
desultory fire both from guns and small-arms was
constantly kept up. No place was safe ; many
houses were pierced both by shell and rifle bullets,
and it was never known from what quarter an
attack might come.
Since we left, sixteen days before, much fighting
had taken place ; many troops had arrived, the
most numerous being the Russians under General
St osser (afterwards the defender of Port Arthur),
and of ours the 2nd Battalion of the 23rd Welsh
Fusiliers, from Hong-Kong, under Colonel the Hon.
Reginald Bertie, ^ and the ist Chinese Regiment
from Wei-hai-wei — both under the command of
Brigadier-General Dorward ^ ; also some Japanese
troops under General Fukusima, with whom I
have become most friendly. The Russians were
1 Now C.B.
' Now Maj.-Gen. Sir Arthur Dorward, K.C.B.
355 2A2
MY NAVAL CAREER
encamped in the country across the river, and
Vice- Admiral Alexeieff , the Russian Viceroy of the
East, had arrived at their camp.
It was a nice question whether he or I should pay
the first visit, he being junior to me as an Admiral,
but, of course, of higher rank as Viceroy. However,
he called first and our relations were always very
pleasant. He was a dignified man, with pleasant
manners.
I have already mentioned my German and
French colleagues in our expedition, but I must
also refer to Captain McCalla of the United States
Navy, whose energy, and devoted efforts to help
me, nothing could excel. He was wounded more
than once, but managed to lead his men till we got
back, and he remained my valued friend till his
lamented death.
The Russians were commanded by Captain
Shaguin, who has deservedly risen in his profession,
and is now a Rear-Admiral, and lately commanded
his Emperor's yacht.
I hired a house in the English quarter for
myself and my staff, and in concert with the
three Generals mentioned above conducted the
operations.
On our return to Tiensin we all much wanted
clothes. I got a suit made by a Chinese tailor, who
then said, ' Maskee me catche dollar pigeon more
better my makee whilo chop chop,' to which I re-
plied that he must stop and make clothes for others
as fast as possible. I fancy there are in London
at times people who would not object if their
tailor preferred bolting to having their bill paid !
356
DEFENCE OF THE SETTLEMENT
Captain E. H. Bayly, of the Aurora, was senior
naval officer at Tiensin till I arrived, and had
been most active and efficient.
The position was now rather a peculiar one ;
such a mixed force of nationalities, both naval
and military, and such a variety of commanders,
with no one authorised head, perhaps never were
associated before on active service, but it worked
very well. Though it was hard to say who had
the chief command, I was the senior in rank and
was often referred to, but a sailor is not sup-
posed to command soldiers on shore.
Nearly in the middle of the settlement was the
Town Hall, from the tower of which one got a fine
view all round. It also made a good mark for
the enemy's guns, but though shell often flew by
when we were up there, it suffered but little.
Several horses were at times grazing in a paddock,
into which the shell after passing this tower some-
times fell, and I used to look to see what happened,
and was surprised to observe how little the horses
noticed the shell, unless of course they were hit.
The lower part of the Town Hall was used as the
general hospital. Outside Tiensin were two
arsenals, one to the north-east and one to the west,
close to the city walls. The north-east one was
taken on 27th June by a mixed force of Russians
and British.
By this time we had further Naval Brigade men
up from the Fleet ; many from the Barfleur and
other ships, Captain J. H. T. Burke, of the Orlando,
being in command of the Brigade. The Terrible,
lately arrived from South Africa, also supphed
357
MY NAVAL CAREER
some gun mountings as designed by Captain
Percy Scott, and on such carriages as Captain
Hedworth Lambton had taken to the defence of
Lady smith.
Among our garrison was the ' First Chinese
Regiment/ whose behaviour did full justice to
its officers. It was raised at Wei-hai-wei for the
defence of that place, and was commanded by
Colonel Hamilton Bower, and officers from various
regiments of our Army. I had watched its
growth with great interest, and now it proved
its success on active service. Major Bruce of
this regiment was dangerously wounded in the
settlements, but happily recovered.
The regiment became 1200 strong, consisting
of Chinamen of very good physique and behaviour ;
but the ways of the British Government are
' inscrutable,' and after finding that the regiment
was really efiicient they disbanded it.
On the 28th, while writing in my house, a bullet
came in and hit me fairly hard. Luckily for me
it was spent or from the direction I should have
been killed. Perhaps scientifically speaking I
was wrong, but after that I felt quite safe in the
same place, and believe many others would do
so too, on the doctrine of chances ; no second
bullet being likely to take the same course.^
One of our anxieties was that Yuan-shi-kai, the
Governor of Shantung, had a well-drilled and
armed force, supposed to be 4000 strong. If these
also came against us our position would at least
^ Some of my readers may here be reminded of the midship-
man in Peter Simple, and the calculation by Professor Inman.
358
DIFFICULTY OF HOLDING THE RAILWAY STATION
be desperate, and any day it might occur. There
is no doubt we have to thank the Viceroys of
Shantung and Nankin that our task in China in
1900 was not a much heavier one.
I was anxious to get all the women and children
away, both for their immediate safety, and also
not knowing what might happen, and I took
every opportunity to send them down the river
and lodge them on board our ships. Our excellent
Consul was Mr. W. R. Carles, who had a wife and
some children ; these last I got away one morning,
and that very afternoon a shell came in and
burst in their nursery.
Lieutenant P. N. Wright of the Orlando was
dangerously wounded by a shell bursting close
to him. I telegraphed to the Admiralty to ask
them to promote him at once, which they did, and
I had the pleasure of telling him he was a com-
mander. Unhappily he did not recover ; but his
promotion was some satisfaction to his widow.
The railway station was, I think, quite the
worst position. The rolling stock in it was all
destroyed and the walls that still stood were like
sieves, for the holes in them. Those ordered to
hold it mildly remonstrated, and I remember
telling the Russians and Japanese to relieve each
other — a rather curious thing looking back from
a few years later ! Sometimes I had an assortment
of field-guns out, and a small artillery duel with
the guns on the city walls, where a pagoda, till we
destroyed it, was an interesting mark.
On 8th July we were much pleased at getting
a complimentary telegram from 130 members of
359
MY NAVAL CAREER
the Rqyal Navy Club at their annual dinner in
London to the First Lord of the Admiralty.
Sailors appreciate the good opinion of their brother
sailors ! It is sincere.
On the gth we took the west arsenal called
Hi-kuan-su, mentioned on p. 357. To do this a
mixed force including Russians, all really com-
manded by the Japanese General Fukusima,
started before daylight, and first made a detour
to the south end. I went with them. Our
seamen were under Commander Beatty 1 of the
Barfleur, who, though wounded only a few days
before, insisted on keeping to his duty.
When approaching the arsenal we had to
descend a steep bank of some ten feet. I was
with General Fukusima and said to him : ' Go
first and I will ease you down ' — with a staff I had ;
he did so and I followed, and while so doing heard a
noise just behind me and looking round was told
by Major Aoki, the General's A.D.C. : ' It is lucky
you went quickly as a shrapnel shell [coming
across us from our left] just passed between you
and me ' ; which it did, and then burst, wounding
for one Lieutenant G. Fair of my staff.
If we could have held this position, it would
have helped to keep down the fire from the city on
the settlements. I had hoped to be able to do so,
but when I saw its condition, and how it was
commanded from the walls, I felt I could not
order men to remain in it.
On the 12th I felt I must return to my squadron.
1 Now Rear-Admiral David Beatty, M.V.O., D.S.O., the
youngest Flag-officer for 130 years.
360
DEPARTURE FOR SHANGHAI
There were now three general officers at Tiensin,
and the matter had become mostly a military
one, while my duty was of course afloat. During
my absence of over a month my place had been
most ably filled by my colleague, Rear-Admiral
Bruce. 1
I did not like to leave the province of Chili, in
which Pekin and the Peiho River are, but I was
very anxious about what [might happen at
Shanghai, and in the Yang-tse region ; and a
telegram from the Admiralty, taking the same
view as I did of the possibility of an outbreak
down there, decided me on going at once to
Shanghai.
There should no doubt have been a clasp
given for Tiensin, including the defence of the
settlements and capture of the city. When the
long duration of the fighting, the large number
of casualties, and the importance of the episode in
North China are considered, no one, I think, will
dispute this, especially when it is compared with
what some clasps were given for in another con-
tinent at about the same time. I did my utmost
to get the clasp for my officers and men ; why
it was not given I know, but the poor reasons I
do not feel at liberty to mention.
The saying ' Surgit amari aliquid ' is very true,
and so is its converse, and I could relate several
little international incidents during the above
period which were very amusing, and might even
be of interest ; but although not at all to the
detriment of our gallant and friendly allies, they
* Now Admiral Sir James Bruce, K.C.M.G.
361
MY NAVAL CAREER
are perhaps best omitted lest their mention be
misunderstood. Who was it said —
He surely must be good for nought
Who is not humorous prone ;
Who has not got a merry thought
Can't have a funny bone — ?
But I may express my thanks to my foreign
brother officers who so kindly advised and sup-
ported me, especially to Vice- Admiral Bendemann
of the Imperial German Navy, and to Rear-
Admiral CourejoUes of the French, and Rear-
Admiral Kempff of the United States, Navies ; I
can only hope that their memories of me are as
agreeable as are mine of them.
362
CHAPTER XXXII
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
Shanghai — The Yang-tse — Pekin relieved — Shan-hai-quan —
Chen-wang-tao — The Pier.
On my way south, I looked into Wei-hai-wei, and
found it full of people, hospitals, and work, the
immediate base in fact of our operations.
At Shanghai I found things quiet, but people
very apprehensive of what might happen, and
meetings took place to arrange for its defence in
case of attack.
I went up to Nankin to see the Viceroy
Lu-kung-yi. There we had to drive about seven
miles through roads and streets mostly lined with
Chinese soldiers. This is a curious illustration
of what China is like : we had just been fighting
with Imperial troops — as well as with Boxers —
and the fighting was still going on at Pekin ;
yet here we were entirely in the power of troops
of the same nation. But I felt it right whatever
occurred to visit the Viceroy.
Between Woosung and Nankin lay a squadron
of Chinese ships of war, with whom we exchanged
friendly salutes as if their Empress and her Govern-
ment were not at war with us and attacking
363
MY NAVAL CAREER
the Legations, but China is at present an exception
to all ordinary rules — and unanimity of action in
its different provinces does not yet exist.
Our Consul at Nankin, Mr. Sundius, was in an
isolated and anxious position, and any moment
disturbances might have broken out and his life
been in danger. I offered to send one or two naval
officers to keep him company, but he declined.
It is a proof of the great power these Chinese
' Satraps ' wield, that peace was preserved in this
region though affairs were much strained. We
had to be prepared for any eventuality. I had
pilots subsidised and all things ready to force our
passage up the Yang-tse if required, ^ and to attack
the Kiang-yin forts. In that case I had a most
able colleague in General O'Moore Creagh,^ V.C.,
commanding the troops at Shanghai ; and I think
he will forgive me if I say he would not have
blamed the Viceroy if he had quite failed to
prevent an outbreak of hostilities.
The Viceroy, who I have already mentioned
in Chapter XXVII, received me as before, and
our interview was both pleasant, friendly and
satisfactory.
In August we heard of the death of the King
of Italy, and a full-dress funeral service was per-
formed at the Roman Catholic Cathedral with
great state.
With the military expedition to Pekin that
relieved the Legations I had nothing to do except
^ If killed in action the pilot's widow was to be pensioned
like the widows of naval lieutenants.
^ Now G.C.B. and Commander-in-Chief in India.
364
VALUE OF WEI-HAI-WEI AS A BASE
to arrange our Naval Brigade under the command
of Captain G. A. Callaghan^ of H.M.S. Endymion.
The expedition, as is known, succeeded in its
object on 14th August.
The ' Forbidden city ' was then for the first
time entered by foreigners. The details are
matters of history. Pekin was mercilessly looted,
which with eight different nationalities was per-
haps inevitable. ' Inter armas silent leges/
and looting is the legalised robbery of war ;
very few souls are noble enough to resist the
temptation. I should think the booty taken
at Pekin in 1900 was as valuable as any so got
in the lifetimes of the present generation.
I remained at or near Shanghai till the
middle of September, when I felt it time again to
go north. I found Wei-hai-wei amply showing its
great value to us as a base of operations, as a
naval station, a military depot, a general hospital,
and a sanatorium. We shall be foolish if we
give it up voluntarily.
Off Taku Bar I found ten Admirals, with
ships-of-war in proportion.
Soon after the German Field-Marshal, Count
Waldersee, arrived, having been sent by the
German Emperor with the accord of some of the
other nations concerned, to take the place at
Pekin of the senior international military officer.
I, of course, called on the Field-Marshal, and I
found him a courteous gentleman full of vigour,
both of mind and body, and seeming young for
his age, which I believe was sixty-seven. His
1 Now Vice-Admiral Sir George Callaghan, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.
MY NAVAL CAREER
position in China was a difficult one, as all present
were not prepared to accept him as their chief. I
could say a good deal on this question, but had better
only again remark that I am not writing history.
It now, however, became my duty again to
have conferences of the allied Admirals, and
arrange for an expedition to Chen-wang-tao and
Shan-hai-quan. The latter place is where the
great wall of China runs down to the sea, and
though it is not exactly the line between China
and Manchuria, which begins a few miles farther
north, it is so virtually ; and at Shan-hai-quan
are many forts, and the question of how to deal
with them had to be considered. It was thought
we should have to bombard and take them, and
the part each nation should take in this had to be
arranged.
But at the last moment before we were going
to start with the above object, our gunboat, the
Pigmy, arrived early one morning to say the
forts had surrendered to her. It was truly a
case of du sublime au ridicule, and the gunboat's
name was very appropriate.
I paiss over details, but the end was that we
all proceeded up there, and I then had to visit all
the forts with my brother Admirals, and arrange
how they should be shared out and garrisoned.
The Commander of the Pigmy, Lieutenant J.
Green, carried out a difficult position extremely
well. A comic paper at Shanghai — a sort of
Punch — hit the situation off so ably with a cartoon,
that I sent it to the Admiralty, and think it
helped to the officer's'^promotion !
'366
OCCUPATION OF SHAN-HAI-QUAN FORTS
Our Russian friends, with that hberal desire
for the occupation and civilisation of the Far
East of Asia for which they are justly renowned,
had contemplated saving their allies the trouble
of occupying the Shan-hai-quan forts by doing
so themselves. Unfortunately for the Russians
this did not at all suit me or my other colleagues,
and their troops arrived too late.
The circumstances of the occupation of Shan-
hai-quan were a little complicated, though re-
lieved by several touches of humour ; but I
will confine myself to saying that we agreed that
the principal coast fort should be common pro-
perty, and that all our national flags should fly
on it. Their order of precedence was diJBficult to
decide. I might have made it according to the
Admirals' seniorities, but thought it best to
go in alphabetical order of the nations' names,
using French as the language of diplomacy. The
other forts were divided among the various
nationalities for occupation during the coming
winter.
As senior national officer present, much de-
volved on me, and to me were addressed the
complaints of the Chinese as to what had occurred
in the city of Shan-hai-quan, I shall mention no
names, but only remark we are yet very far from
the ideal of what civilisation even in war time
should be.
It being our intention to occupy these forts,
as mentioned above, and as the ice in winter
made communication with the shore in the Gulfs
of Pechili and Liau-tong very difficult, we had to
367
MY NAVAL CAREER
seriously consider how best to solve this problem.
My brother Admirals did so by agreeing to leave
it all to me ; in this, of course, they showed their
sense, as they avoided both the trouble and
responsibility.
Having then found out all I could about the
matter, I decided that the best way was to build
a pier at a place called Chen-wang-tao, a few
miles south of Shan-hai-quan, and comparatively
very free from ice in winter. There were many
difficulties, but a contractor was got and the
work began. Paying for the pier had to be
arranged among the nations ; we tried to divide
it according to the numbers of the garrisons ;
but in this my first experience of financial assess-
ments, I found it not easy to give general satis-
faction ! I fancy it often is not.
That winter the ice formed to thirteen miles
off the land at Shan-hai-quan. The Peiho River,
which is frozen on an average for seventy days
every winter, is only one degree south of the
Tagus.
I then visited Tiensin, and found peace
and some order again prevailing, with a strong
garrison of troops. The German Field-Marshal,
with his headquarters, was there for the present.
There was much to settle with our foreign allies,
but after a few busy days I returned to my
naval duties.
368
CHAPTER XXXIIT
CHINA COMMAND (continued)
The Yang-tse — ^Death of H.M. Queen Victoria — Hong-Kong —
Tiensin — Pekin — The Forbidden City — Newchwang — Nan-
kin — ^Wei-hai-wei — Relieved in Command — Arrive Home.
I WENT to Shanghai and the Yang-tse, and again
visited my friend the Viceroy of Nankin, and
then went on to Hankow to call on Chang-Chi-
Tung, the Viceroy of the Hukuang. I have
mentioned him before in Chapter XXVII. This
was mv third visit to him. He was then about
sixty-five years old, but looked much more. The
Chinese often ask you how old you are, and when
told, it is considered polite for them to say,
' Dear me, I should have thought you were much
older,' meaning because you look so worthy of
the greatest respect.
The Chinese Viceroys occupy positions un-
known as subjects in Europe, and any foreign
officer in a prominent position should visit and
treat them accordingly.
I had to leave the Alacrity at Kiukiang, fifty
miles below Hankow, and go up in a destroyer,
for want of water. On our return we had to go
fxill speed, and I fear our wave did much harm
369 2 B
MY NAVAL CAREER
to many Chinese small craft, but no time could
be spared.
The birthday of the Dowager Empress of
China was on ist December ; I happened then
to be in company with a Chinese squadron in the
Yang-tse, and we saluted and did honour to the
old lady as if she had been still reigning at Pekin
instead of a refugee in hiding.
I felt it right to stay at Shanghai till February
in view of possible occurrences. So I was there
when the melancholy news reached us of the
death of our great Queen Victoria. We heard
it on 24th January, our time being eight hours
in advance of England. Her reign was the
longest of any English Sovereign.
On the 27th was the birthday of the German
Emperor, and all men-of-war present dressed with
flags to honour it ; except my flagship, which
remained with the Royal Standard at half-mast.
On 2nd February we had a memorial service
at the English Cathedral here to do honour to
the interment of our late Queen. Besides our
own, about seventy foreign officers, naval and
military, attended, all, of course, in full dress.
With the bands, and with the Indian pipers from
Indian regiments here, the ceremony was very
impressive. In the afternoon we fired eighty-one
minute guns, for the age of our late Sovereign, and
so timed as to end at sunset.
While at Shanghai I got a telegram from the
Admiralty, asking me to remain out six months
longer than my proper time ; this I felt to be a
great compliment, but I had anyhow no hesitation
370
EXTENSION OF COMMISSION
in accepting it, as besides my love of sea service
I took the greatest interest in the China Station.
H.M.S. Glory about now arrived from Eng-
land, a new class of battleship quite superior to
the Centurion in size and power. The Admiralty
offered me to change to her as my flagship,
and perhaps, had I expected soon to be in a ship
action, I would have done so ; but one is loath to
leave one's old ship and shipmates.
In February I went down to Hong-Kong, a
place one was always glad to be at in the winter.
It is just cold enough to enjoy a fire and feel it
is not summer. The walks about the island are
beautiful, and as a winter climate there is no place
in Europe I like so much.
In April I was again at Shanghai ; this place
is like no other I know of, being a thoroughly cos-
mopohtan trading settlement. The chief nations
have their own quarters, presided over by their
Consuls, or elected committees, and society there-
fore has the charm of being very varied, and by
no means narrow-minded. It is hardly a port
at all, as only moderate-sized vessels can get up
to it, and the anchorage off the mouth of its
river is a poor one ; however, its position is
central for China, and it does, and will, flourish.
I paid a last visit to Tiensin and Pekin ; the
wreck of our railway trains just above Yang-tsu
was a most melancholy sight. The railway
stations were still all garrisoned for protection.
On this occasion I saw the wreck of a train,
caused by a sand storm. The sand was so hard
that the engine left the rails, unfortunately just
371 2 B 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
as it approached a bridge, over which it fell, and
remained with its wheels in the air. Strange to
say the driver and stoker were saved by the
cab, and not badly hurt, though others in the
train were killed. This accident occurred near
Lofa station, and by one of the bridges that we
had repaired. The North China sand-storms
are really bad simoons, as I have mentioned
before.
At Pekin I was received in the most kind
and complimentary way at the station by our
Minister, our General, and others ; and I was
now able to visit and see what before 1900 was
jealously secluded ; but other pens than mine
have well described it all, so I must refrain.
It was most interesting to have the siege of
the Legations exactly explained on the site by
actors in that drama. Their defence was most
creditable, and it will always be a curious question
why they were not destroyed. Probably it was
owing to vacillating counsels, and disunions.
Riding out to the new Summer Palace, about
nine miles to the north-west of Pekin, I passed
the ruins of the old one destroyed by us and
the French in i860, and since then quite neg-
lected and left as it was.
The * Forbidden City,' i.e. the Emperor's
palace and demesne inside Pekin, is a striking
instance of how the Chinese, when a building has
been completed, even with great care and expense,
neglect its upkeep : spacious halls with ill-kept
w^alls and ceilings, and flights of marble steps
with weeds on them, are not uncommon sights.
372
THE 'FORBIDDEN CITY'
Perhaps the most interesting spot in the
vicinity of the ' Forbidden City ' is the Peitang
(or North Church) where the Roman CathoUc
Christians were besieged at the same time as
the Legations. The marks of shot on it were
innumerable, and five hundred people are said to
have been killed or died in its defence ; one
mine exploded near it is said to have killed a
hundred. When the relief of the Legations took
place I believe the Japanese first reached the
Peitang.
But I must not let myself enlarge on these
too interesting subjects. I left Pekin with regret,
paid a farewell visit to Tiensin, and went to see
our pier at Ching-wan-tao — mentioned above.
I afterwards visited General Reid, in com-
mand of our troops, occupying with our allies the
Shan-hai-quan forts. He had spent the winter
here, and seen much of the special characteristics
of our international co-operators, which he de-
tailed with Caledonian humour — and some severe
strictures.
Such a combination of several nations' gar-
risons in close quarters during a severe winter
perhaps has never occurred.
I could not resist again going to Newchwang,
the great port for the export of beans and bean
cake from Manchuria ; 136,363 tons of the above
are said to have gone from here in a year, of a
value of three million pounds sterling. The
freedom of this place from other than Chinese
control had often exercised my mind.
I had another visit to pay to Shanghai and the
373
MY NAVAL CAREER
Yang-tse River, and calling at Wei-hai-wei heard
I had become an ' Admiral ' — or as called in
contradistinction to the lower flag ranks, a
Full Admiral. I went first to Hankow to see
again Chang- Chi-Tung, the Viceroy of Hukuang.
Here also I found the Austrian Admiral Count
Monticucolli in his flagship ; my relations with
him had always been most agreeable, and he
possessed a sense of humour at times quite
refreshing.
My last Chinese visit was to my friend Lu-
Kung-yi, the Viceroy of the Liang Kiang at Nankin.
I was sorry to take leave of him, and regret that
death has since deprived his country of his services.
The Taotai of Nankin brought his children to
see me ; one, a little girl about ten, was most intelli-
gent, and being brought up as a young blue
stocking was learning several of the awful Chinese
ideographic characters a day, and now knew
two thousand of them. But what a waste of time
learning such an alphabet seems to be.
I then paid my last visit to Shanghai, where I
was entertained as the guest at a large dinner by
the Shanghai branch of the China Association.
No naval officer who has served much in China
can fail to take great interest in our commerce
there, or to realise how greatly our mercantile
community there appreciate any efforts of the
Navy to protect and assist them.
Once more I went to V\''ei--hai-wei, and while
there the ist Chinese Regiment, of which I have
before spoken, was paraded before me, about
1200 strong ; a fine and well-drilled body of men,
374
FAREWELL DINNERS
showing what can be done with the Chinese by
British officers, who I beheve are superior to all
other nations in dealing with natives other than
European.
My Captains gave me a farewell dinner on
2ist June which I very much appreciated. Sailors
are honest and straightforward.
On 25th June H.M.S. Glory arrived with my
friend Vice-Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, who
next day relieved me in command of the China
Station.
On the 26th I left in the Centurion really sorry
to vacate my command. We called at Hong-Kong,
where the Governor, Sir Henry Blake, and
the China Association, respectively, gave me
farewell banquets, and on 3rd July I sailed for
England.
In 1858, at just the same season of the year,
when in the Pique 1 (as before related) we were
fifty days on our passage from Hong-Kong to
Singapore ; in the Centurion we were now only five
days, or one-tenth of the time.
After Singapore we coaled at Pulo Weh, a
small Dutch island off the north end of Sumatra,
with a good harbour ; it may become a very import-
ant strategic position to some nation — which ?
We called at Colombo and again filled up coal,
having to contend with the full force of the
south-west monsoon, which as you approach
Africa is very strong with a heavy head sea.
At Mount Lavinia, near Colombo, I visited our
Boer prisoners of war, and talked to many who
^ See page 70.
375
MY NAVAL CAREER
spoke English ; mostly they said they still expected
to win in South Africa.
We coaled at Perim, which nature has surely
put there for the purpose, and for England ; the
story of our taking possession of it is too well
known to repeat.
Going on to Suez we found the absurdity of
the bogey quarantine awaiting us, in the news
that because the plague existed in China — though
we had not had a case — we must hoist two yellow
flags, and not take in a pilot. This last we did not
mind ; but being, as we were, in strict quarantine
the rest of the way to England, viz. at Port Said,
Malta, and Gibraltar, was equally ridiculous and
tiresome.
On 19th August we arrived at Portsmouth, and
went into harbour. We got a most hearty
reception, cheers from the ships and the shore,
and visits from many friends ; all really inspiriting
and touching.
Next day. Lord Selborne, then First Lord of the
Admiralty, paid us the special compliment of
coming on board to receive us, and to give us His
Majestj'^'s message of approval, and of welcome
home — an honour we all immensely appreciated.
On the 2ist I left the ship, and my flag was
hauled down : such leave takings are things not
easily forgotten. These endings of the chief phases
of our Uves are the milestones of our existence !
376
CHAPTER XXXIV
ADMIRAL
The King's Telegram — Decorations — Portsmouth Banquet —
Royal Visit to Devonport — ^With H.R.H. Duke of Connaught
to Madrid — Order of Merit — The Coronation.
On our arrival in England the King was abroad,
but honoured me with a most kind telegram on
my return. On nth September the Mayor of
Portsmouth, with the Corporation and Borough,
entertained myself, the officers and ship's company
of the Centurion at a banquet in the Town Hall
of Portsmouth. Lord Selborne, the First Lord of
the Admiralty, also was present. There were, of
course, speeches ; we (the guests) regarded it as a
great compliment, and I think such welcomes do
good and are valued by the men.
About now the King arranged with the
German Emperor that decorations should be
exchanged between England and Prussia for the
war service in North China in 1900. I had to
nominate the German officers, while the German
Admiral had to nominate ours, and it had to be
considered what decorations on either side were
377
MY NAVAL CAREER
equivalent to those on the other. This is a little
difficult ; but all was arranged satisfactorily, I
think.
That winter I visited Italy, Malta and France ;
it is very good for sailors after long foreign service
to get a real variety of scene and society.
In March 1902 the King and Queen visited
Devonport in the Royal Yacht, and on 8th
March Her Majesty the Queen launched the ship
called after her ; and then the King laid the first
keel-plate of the ship to be honoured with his
name — a very apposite double function.
Previously the King honoured me by pre-
senting us with our China medals at Keyham. I
was given a second Chinese medal, having one
already for the former wars there. It is probably
rare for anyone to have two medals for wars in the
same countrv.
This spring the King sent the Duke of Con-
naught to Madrid, as the head of a mission to
invest the King of Spain with the Order of the
Garter, on his assuming the reins of government ;
and I was selected to go in the Duke's suite as the
naval representative.
We went out in the Royal Yacht, the Victoria
and Albert, to Bilboa, where we landed, and went
on to Madrid. There was, of course, a grand
reception.
Her Majesty Queen Christina (the Queen
Regent), as the Sovereign of Spain received the
Duke, and the missions from other nations that
arrived at the same time.
The first evening a great banquet was given
378
GARTER MISSION TO KING OF SPAIN
in the Palace, and the Queen conferred various
Orders on the members of the different missions.
The Palace at Madrid is among the finest in
Europe, and its site is good, being on an elevation.
While we were there the magnificent Goya tapes-
tries, were displayed in the Palace; they were so
large and numerous that they were hung round
the immense staircases.
The next day the investiture of the King with
the Garter took place in one of the large salons
of the Palace ; for such functions everything should
be carefully planned and rehearsed beforehand.
We had done so.
The various members of the Duke's suite
carried on cushions the different emblems of the
Order of the Garter, which in proper order were
taken by the Duke of Wellington, who as a
Grandee of Spain had very fitly been selected
for this office, and were by him handed to
H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, who carried out
the investiture.
The ceremony of the King's taking the oaths
was not performed till the next day, in the Church
of San Francisco.
The King of Spain is not crowned, but the
Crown is placed on a cushion by his side as he
publicly takes the oaths. The whole ceremony and
service, with a * Te Deum,' were very impressive.
Madrid was en fete, the houses decorated
with flags and festoons of all sorts, and I am glad
to say no contretemps of any sort occurred to mar
the harmony and gaiety of the whole proceedings.
No great festival in Spain seems perfect
379
MY NAVAL CAREER
without bull fights (if in season, which is summer) ;
many bull fights took place during the week we
were in Madrid, but the State bull fights on the
last day were attended by the King, the Queen
Mother, and all the Royalties and their suites
who had come to the celebration.
Most people know pretty well what a bull
fight is like, but I may briefly remark that its
chief cruelty, at least to my mind, consists in the
brutality to the horses ; the bull it is true is always
killed, but till killed, his sufferings are not much,
and his excitement and anger no doubt minimise
them, such as they are ; but the occasional treat-
ment of the horses is such as I will not describe.
However, on the occasion of the State bull
fights, one of them is what is called ' Caballeros en
plaza/ The riders in this are gentlemen mounted
on valuable horses which are their own property,
and every precaution is taken to prevent their
being hurt. I believe this performance is very
rare.
The bull seems to me a very stupid animal on
the whole, but is very active ; I have seen one leap
over the boundary fence of the ring, which was
about eight feet high. Much commotion ensued
among the spectators. The men are seldom hurt,
and if they are, one feels their being there is quite
voluntary on their part. The ' Matador ' — or
slayer (from matar — to kill) — is the hero of the
Spanish feminine world, and often makes a great
deal of money. The theory is that he always
kills the bull with one thrust of his sword : but
in practice this is, I believe, rare.
380
ORDER OF MERIT
I will not inflict on my readers any description
of Madrid, but only say that the ceremonies lasted
about a week, after which the Duke of Connaught
with his suite returned in the Royal Yacht to
England.
This spring I was a member of a committee
on the question of manning the Navy, and of a
Naval Reserve. Our very able chairman was
Sir Edward Grey. The committee lasted several
weeks, and its recommendations were in great
part adopted by the Admiralty.
The 26th June 1902 was to have been the
Coronation Day of His Majesty King Edward VII.
The sorrow and anxiety created by his serious
illness that caused its postponement will be long
remembered by survivors.
On that day the King instituted the Order of
Merit, the naval members of which were Admiral
of the Fleet the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel and
myself.
I consider the Order of Merit to be the highest
compliment paid by the Sovereign to a subject,
not only because the number is very limited, but
because it is awarded for prolonged work, or
service, of the kind specially germane to the
individual ; and not only for a short or sudden
action.
The King having happily recovered his health,
preparations for the Coronation were resumed ;
in them I played a small part, being selected to
ride in the Coronation procession and join in the
Abbey ceremonials. Participants in the procession
through the streets see nothing of the procession,
381
MY NAVAL CAREER
but they see the streets of London in an extra-
ordinary guise, and it is a sight well worth seeing.
On i6th August the King reviewed his Fleet
at Spithead, and I was honoured with a command
to attend on board the Royal Yacht, from which
the scene was most impressive.
In October 1902 the King made me his First
and Principal Naval A.D.C., which I continued
to be till I became Commander-in-Chief at Devon-
port ; when I was relieved from the above position,
which I think is right, as the holder of it should be
free, and at the immediate call of the Sovereign.
The same month I and all the other King's
A.D.C.'s rode in His Majesty's procession to the
Guildhall banquet.
In March 1903 I became Commander-in-Chief
at Plymouth.
382
CHAPTER XXXV
PLYMOUTH COMMAND
House Book — Cambridge Degree of LL.D. — ^Visit of T.R.H. the
Prince and Princess of Wales to Devonport — German
Squadron's Visit — Three Admirals — Promoted to Admiral of
the Fleet.
*
The First Lord of the Admiralty kindl}^ offered
me my choice of either Plymouth or Portsmouth,
but I chose Plymouth, partly because it was
vacant six months sooner than the other, and I
could only hold either till two years after that
date.
Admiral in command of a home port is as a
rule the end of one*s service ; its duties are greatly
social ones, but when all is considered such
appointments do not leave one much spare time.
I know both Portsmouth and Plymouth well,
and have always considered as a residence the latter
preferable to the former, because you are living
more in the county society, and the kindness of
your Devon and Cornish neighbours is endless.
I succeeded my friend Admiral Lord Charles
Scott, in whose time, and with whose assistance,
plans had been made by the Admiralty to alter
383
MY NAVAL CAREER
both the Admiralty House and the grounds about
it ; and these were now carried out.
This partly induced me, with the help of my
Flag-lieutenant (Lieutenant C. N. T. Carill-
Worsley), to start a ' House book/ by which I
mean a volume containing a history of the house,
so far as known, with plans and views, &c. ; to
be continued and kept up to date, with any details
of the inmates, or of events, that seem worthy
of record. I never heard of such a book anywhere
else, but only fancy the immense interest of one
such that had long been kept in some of our
historic mansions. I mention the above in hopes
some one may read this and copy my example.
During my command at Plymouth but few
events occurred worth relating.
A great dinner of welcome home was given in
the Guildhall, Plymouth, to the 2nd Battalion of
the Duke of Cornwairs Light Infantry, I was
present and had to speak, and I think surprised
them by saying I had probably known the regi-
ment longer than anyone else there, as I made
their acquaintance on board the Prince on their
arrival in the Crimea in 1854, when they were the
46th Regiment, and had they arrived a few days
later they would probably all have been lost in
that ship, as she was wrecked in the gale of 14th
November.
In June 1903 I had the great honour of having
the degree of LL.D. ' Honoris causa' conferred on
me by the University of Cambridge. The meaning,
of course, is Doctor of both Civil and Church Law
— once I believe it was called * J.U.D.' or ' juris
384
PROMOTED TO ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
utrusque doctor/ The ceremony was to me
very interesting, and the compliment I highly
appreciated.
In July 1903 their Royal Highnesses the
Prince and Princess of Wales, now our King
and Queen, visited the port, for H.R.H. the Prin-
cess of Wales to launch H.M.S. King Edward VII,
whose keel-plate was laid by the King in March
1902.1
In July 1904 a large German squadron visited
us at Plymouth, commanded by Admiral von
Koester, with two Rear- Admirals. I think I may
say that the visit went off in the pleasantest and
most friendly way in all respects.
When I dined with the German Admiral on
board his flagship in Plymouth Sound, he did
me the honour to ask to meet me such officers
of his squadron as had been under my command
on shore in our Chinese expedition in 1900, and
he also had fallen in on deck as a guard of honour
the seamen who had served on the same occasion.
It was a compliment that touched me greatly,
and was well worthy of German heads and hearts.
On 20th February 1905 I was promoted to
the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, which meant
my vacating my post as Commander-in-Chief at
Plymouth.
I may here just mention that a very extra-
ordinary position in the Navy List had occurred
about a year before, viz. that the three senior
Admirals next each other at the top of the active
list had all been boys together at the same school
^ See p. 378.
MY NAVAL CAREER
fifty-two years previously — viz. Lord Walter
Kerr, Lord Charles Scott, and myself — at Radley.
When the number of boys, schools, and naval
officers of the United Kingdom is considered, I
think it would require a Senior Wrangler to cal-
culate the arithmetical chances against such an
event.
My flag as Admiral of the Fleet flew for a
month in the Impregnable, that ship by chance
having the same name as the last one that ever
flew an Admiral of the Fleet's flag for more than
a day.
4 On 20th March 1905 I was relieved by Vice-
Admiral Sir Lewis Beaumont, and went on half-
pay, as I supposed, for the last time.
386
CHAPTER XXXVI
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
Remarks on Title and Flag of Admiral of the Fleet— With H.R.H.
Prince Arthur of Connaught to Berlin — Trafalgar Fete at
Boston — Southern States — Go with Prince Arthur of
Connaught to Japan,
I MUST make a few remarks both on the title and
on the flag of an Admiral of the Fleet — objecting
as I do to both.
As regards the title, it is not significant enough,
being too like the title ' Admiral in the Fleet/
which means, the next lower grade of Admiral.
The result is, as I know well, that most people
neither use, nor understand it.
What would be thought of changing the title
' Field Marshal ' to ' General of the Army ' ? What
would the Field-Marshals say ? When the title
* Admiral of the Fleet ' was instituted about the
end of the seventeenth century, there was to be
only one such officer at the same time, and I
believe he at first only held the rank and title
while employed on full pay.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century
there was still only one such officer at one time.
The increase in numbers seems to have taken place
387 2 c 2
- '^' ' MY NAVAL CAREER
in the nineteenth century. While only one such
officer existed the title no doubt had a meaning
it has not now. I may just remark that at this
moment Admiral Dewey, of the United States
Navy, holds the special title of ' Admiral of the
Navy,' he alone having it.
In May 1905 the King attached me to the suite
of H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught for his
mission to Berlin to be present at the wedding of
the Crown Prince of Prussia. We were there
over four days, and the ceremonies were as well
carried out as German thoroughness would make
probable. Whatever I may think of the ulterior
aspirations of United Germany, I have the
greatest admiration for their intelligence and
practical organisation, in whatever they undertake.
On the day of the wedding it was very hot,
and we were in levee dress for about seven hours.
The Schloss is far larger than Buckingham Palace,
and on this day about 1500 guests dined in the
Schloss, of course in different rooms, at dinners
as well served, and attended on, as if the guests
had been only a tenth in number.
In the autumn of 1905 a community in Boston
decided to celebrate the centenary of the Battle
of Trafalgar — Captain Mahan, the great naval
historian, kindly consenting to make the speech
of the evening, of course, on Lord Nelson and his
career.
It was wished that some British naval officer
should represent our Navy ; and being asked to
do so, I consented for the sake of our service.
The day chosen was, of course, 21st October,
388 ,
TRAFALGAR CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
when about 2500 people assembled in the Tremont
Temple in Boston. Those who have read the
illuminating works of Mahan can imagine how he
did justice to his subject. I had the pleasure of
staying in the same house with him, and found him
equally interesting as a companion as he is as a
writer.
From Boston I moved south, visiting many
places, among them New Orleans, which has an
old-time charm. It is the most straggling city
for its population that I know. It lies very low,
and a bund, or sea wall, is necessary to protect
it from the Mississippi River. It has several ceme-
teries ; the two oldest are dedicated to St. Louis,
and the inscriptions on the tombs are nearly all
in Spanish or French. One was in memory of
Dominique You, a celebrated pirate who seems to
have died in his bed instead of his boots.
The old French Creole quarter is interesting,
but too old-fashioned as to hygienic arrangements,
and as regards its street pavement.
A yellow fever epidemic was going on, and I
was much interested to hear about it. The
doctors said the mosquito is what takes it from
a patient to another person, and that only in that
way is it infectious. Then if a draught of air, or
low temperature, prevents the above conduction,
no fear of infection exists. This I believe. They
said that in a week (at most) you could be sure if a
patient would recover or die, that no ill after-effects
are usually left by it, and that a young person
nearly always recovers, but that a patient over
fifty usually dies.
389
MY NAVAL CAREER
From New Orleans I went to Atlanta, the capital
of Georgia, where old inhabitants told me that
after General Sherman burnt it on his march to
the sea, only a hundred houses or so remained.
Now it is a very fine city.
I then went to Charleston, famous, perhaps, as
the scene of the beginning of two wars; now
alas, since the slave days much decayed like other
southern places are. As servants I heard the
negroes mostly praised.
Intoxicating drinks are not legally sold here,
but if you name them in your hotel, where no
wine card is allowed, they appear. If thirsty in
the streets one goes into shops known as ' Blind
Tigers,' and gets a dose of medicine in the back
parlour.
I must not prolong my account of the United
States, but whenever I have been there, the great
kindness I have met with, and the interesting
people and places, made me both unwilling to quit
the country then, and tempt me to say more about
it now.
I returned to England before the end of the
year, having been selected by the King to join the
suite of H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught for
his mission to Japan, to invest the Mikado, or
Emperor, with the Order of the Garter.
The Prince's suite numbered six ; we left
London on nth January 1906, and at Marseilles
embarked in the P. & 0. steamship Mongolia,
arriving at Hong-Kong in twenty-eight days.
From there we proceeded in H. M.S. Diadem to
Yokohama, where we arrived on 19th February
39^
GARTER MISSION TO THE MIKADO
and went by train to Tokyo. The Emperor
himself came to the station there to receive our
Prince — a very extraordinary honour for His
Majesty to pay to anyone.
The reception was in all respects very striking,
and the streets were crowded with people, though
it was very cold, and snowing at times. The
Prince and his suite were all lodged in the Kasumi-
gaski Palace, a very fine stone building.
Next day the ceremony of investing the
Emperor with the Order of the Garter took place
in the Emperor's residential palace. It was
interesting to me to compare the whole scene
with the same ordeal at Madrid ; the surround-
ings and the costumes were different, but the
Japanese lack nothing in courtly forms and state
ceremonies, and certainly never in courteous
manners.
We were nearly a month in Japan ; to do
justice to an account of our visit there would not
only be too long for me to attempt, but is far
better described than I could do by Lord Redes-
dale.^ I will only relate that so far as time
allowed we travelled to the most interesting places
in Japan, and so far as possible with great comfort,
in the Emperor's special train.
The enthusiasm of our Prince's reception
everywhere we went — though often in very cold
or very wet weather— was quite astonishing, and
almost beyond belief.
People were often drawn up at, or near, the
railway stations the train did not stop at ; where
* In his book The Garter Mission to Japan (Macmillan & Co.).
391
MY NAVAL CAREER
it did stop addresses of welcome were given.
When we arrived at a town and left the station,
the streets were thickly lined with spectators,
all most orderly, the children always ranged
along in the front rank, and each child holding
in one hand a small Japanese flag, and in the
other a Union Jack ; of these flags we must have
seen many thousands. The populace bowed
frequently and shouted ' Banzai/ ' Banzai,' I
believe, means ' ten thousand,' i.e. ' may you
live very long.' The more official naval cheer is
' Hoga,' meaning ' respectfully saluting.'
In short, I can only say that had the British
fought on the side of Japan and saved that
nation from defeat, our Prince could not have
been received with greater enthusiasm.
To me, perhaps, our most interesting visit
was to see the Russian prizes at Yokosuka ; the
Nicholas ist, and the Admiral Apraxin were
repaired and in commission with new names.
But some of the others were as brought in after
the action, and the havoc done to them by shot,
shell and fire was almost beyond belief. Wood
splinters in action do much damage to the per-
sonnel, but I suspect that the steel or iron ones
are much the same. When you have not plating
intended to be protective, I think that the slighter
your scantlings — except for constructive strength
— the better.
Admiral Togo accompanied the Prince about
everywhere. A more modest and retiring man
than the Admiral has never worn a naval uniform ;
and these characteristics he particularly showed
392
PRACTICAL JOKE AT A CHARITY CONCERT
during the Prince's visit to the captured ships —
so much so that it was impressive.
I was very much in Admiral Togo's company ;
though he was a boy for a time in our mercantile
cadet ship the Worcester in the Thames, he con-
versed with difficulty in English. I am told he
is naturally of a silent disposition, but all allow
that it was he who designed and carried out the
naval campaign. His face in repose has a rather
sad expression.
One evening while at Tokyo a slight earth-
quake shock occurred, but so little as to be merely
interesting. Earthquakes are, of course, very
common in Japan ; this shock was repeated the
next morning, more severely.
On the afternoon of that day a charity concert
had been got up by Lady Macdonald, the wife of
our Ambassador (Sir Claude), and a rather absurd
joke was played, by whom I know not. When
the concert was about half over, a telegraphic
message arrived to say that an earthquake might
be expected at any moment. No disturbance
was caused in the audience, but as the message
was believed by the management who received
it, our Prince was quietly requested to leave,
followed by his suite, and by degrees the whole
house was then quickly emptied, but no earth-
quake followed, and, as I understand, such things
are as difficult to foretell as a really fine day in
England.
I visited the military hospital and saw many
wounded men. The Japanese, I believe, almost
rival the Turks in their endurance of pain. I saw
393
MY NAVAL CAREER
one soldier who had lost in action both arms and
both legs, high up. Yet strange to say his face
and body looked healthy, and what I believe the
doctors call * well nourished.'
I would gladly say more about Japan, but
it is wiser and kinder to leave my readers to Lord
Redesdale's book mentioned already.
394
CHAPTER XXXVII
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET (continued)
Leave Japan — Cross the Pacific — ^Vancouver's Island — Canada
— Indians — ^Niagara — Quebec.
On i6th March we left in the Pacific R.M.S.P.
Empress of Japan for Vancouver's Island, quite
sorry to part with our Japanese friends, who had
left nothing undone to render our stay delightful.
On leaving I see that with other remarks in
my journal I said : ' The courtesy, self-command,
quietude of manner, and general refinement, of
the Japanese, surpass those of any other nation
I know of.' These expressions are pretty strong ;
but it must be remembered that being v^ith the
Prince we mixed in the best society. Ordinary
' globe trotters ' do not do this.
I also said : ' It is not easy to know the
Japanese, they are retiring in manner, and not
expansive to foreigners.' In short, as Rudyard
Kipling said, ' But East is East and West is
West, the twain w^ill never meet.'
When I was going to China in 1897 I said to
the First Lord of the Admiralty : ' It seems to me
not to matter what nation we go to war with
395
MY NAVAL CAREER
singly, except Japan ; because she is about
12,000 miles off.' Subsequent history has not
at all altered my views.
The Japanese are like our neighbours across
the North Sea, in that they know what they mean
and want, and steadily prepare for that. ' Nee
temere nee timide ' might well be their motto.
Japan's army in 1902 was, I believe, the bravest
civilised one that ever took the field.
Our passage across the Pacific Ocean to
Vancouver's Island occupied twelve days — eleven
only by the calendar, but an extra one occurred,
called ' Antipodes ' day, when we crossed the
longitude of 180° as we were moving eastward.
This, of course, seemed like an extra day gained ;
and if going westward passing the 180° would
have appeared like one lost.
I believe we were fortunate in our weather;
this passage has at all seasons a bad weather
reputation, but the ships of the company are fine
steamers and well managed.
I see I noted her as the most comfortable
mail steamer I was ever in, and I have been in
several. The servants are all Chinese, and none
are better servants.
Across the Pacific Ocean from west to east
there is a set called the Japan current, and some-
what comparable to the Gulf Stream ; bottles
with papers in them to test the ocean drifts are
often used, especially perhaps on this passage
just now, to find the best routes. On one occasion
such a bottle was found on the coast of the State
of Washington, south of Vancouver's Island,
396
ACROSS CANADA
ten years after it had been thrown overboard
off the south-east part of Japan, having drifted
across the Pacific Ocean for a distance of 4300
miles.
At the end of March we arrived at Victoria,
the capital of British Columbia, but situated at
the south end of Vancouver's Island, which
country is about half the size of Ireland.
The Prince was received by the Governor,
Sir Henry Joly de Lobiniere, a French Canadian,
and a perfect specimen of a kind and high-bred
French gentleman. With him we stayed a few
days. We had a fishing excursion in the island,
which was more remarkable for the constant
rainfall than for the fish caught — I dare say
not the only such instance !
From Victoria we went to Vancouver Town,
and thence by the Canadian Pacific Railway
across the Rocky Mountains. As everyone knows,
the scenery there is subUme ; we viewed it partly
from a seat in front of the engine, over the ' cow
catcher ' — a plan I can recommend.
As a place to recover the health of a thoroughly
' run-down ' invalid, commend me to Banff, and
it is both well known and much patronised.
Our train for the Prince was a special one. We
lived in it for a fortnight, and I could not wish
for more comfort on the rails. My compartment
had a private bathroom.
The Prince and his suite were the guests of
the Canadian Government during his visit to
that country, and we were shown all that could
be seen in three or four weeks.
397
MY NAVAL CAREER
Canada is so well known now that I will
only venture on one or two remarks about it.
Calgary and Edmonton stand out most to my
mind as new and very crude, but rising and
promising, places.
Near Gleichen a large band of Indians were
assembled to greet the Prince, and to show off
their native sports. Some of their names sound
to us ridiculous, but are not so to them. Such
are, when translated, ' Dying young man,' ' Bad
dried meat,' * Red wolf,' ' Running rabbit,' &c.
The Indians struck me as being mostly of a
yellowish and red tint ; prominent features,
nose and lips large, hair black — the men wear
it with two plaited tails in front. Both sexes
paint the face, often yeUow or red. Some of the
young women are nice looking. The old chief
took off his clothes and wished to exchange
garments with the Prince. This is, I believe, the
ne plus ultra of civiUty and friendship !
Chinese immigration is dreaded in British
Columbia, and the tax for a Chinaman coming in
was then £ioo.
One has often heard that large families were
common among the French-Canadians. I was
assured by friends that they knew a case of a
man who has seventeen sons by one mother,
working with him. An instance of —
Where children are blessings and he who has most
Has aid to his fortunes and riches to boast.
as the old colonial song said.
At Ottawa we stayed at the Government
398
TOUR IN CANADA WITH PRINCE ARTHUR
House, as guests of Lord and Lady Grey, who
made our short stay with them very agreeable.
Here with much regret we parted from our gracious
chief, H.R.H. Prince Arthur, who was to remain
rather longer in Canada.
Though it was now the middle of April, snow
and ice were still about in plenty. The salubrity
of Canada is indisputable, and its prosperity
assured ; yet as a country to colonise in, the long
and severe winter appears to me a great draw-
back. Its population is now about seven and a
half millions ; but when we were there it was much
less, and was calculated at fewer than two persons
to a square mile, including its most northern
parts.
We then visited Montreal, Toronto, Niagara
and Quebec, all known to me before.
At Niagara we were shown the new electric
development company's works, then in con-
struction ; they divert a small part of the water
just above the falls, on the Canadian side, into
a basin having eleven shafts down which the
water falls for i6o feet and in doing so turns several
turbines placed in the shafts, and the collective
power of each of the eleven is expected to give
15,000 horse-power.
A visit to Quebec is always of vivid interest ;
when there on this occasion. General Sir Thomas
Kelly-Kenny and I were conducted over the route
of Wolfe's landing and ascending the cliff, and
the scene of the battle on the plains of Abraham, by
Major W. Wood of the Canadian Militia, whose
excellent work ' The Fight for Canada ' I can
399
MY NAVAL CAREER
strongly recommend. The cliff Wolfe ascended
was about a hundred feet high.
The name ' Plains of Abraham ' is not taken
from the Bible patriarch, but from Abraham
Martin, a Frenchman who fed his sheep there.
I should like to dwell and enlarge on the half
pathetic, half romantic, wholly heroic, close of
Wolfe's career ; but I must remind myself again
that this is not history, into which, being of course
much more interesting than I am, I can hardly resist
digressing.
I like to think the legend of Wolfe's repeating
Gray's ' Elegy ' in the boat that was landing him is
true ; the poem would then have been out about
eight years.
From Quebec we went to Halifax, and there
embarked in the Allan Line steamship Victorian
for England, arriving at Liverpool early in May.
My next three years were entirely those of
private life, varied by occasional travels abroad,
that probably would not interest any kind
readers I may have.
400
CHAPTER XXXVIII
H.M.S. INFLEXIBLE AND NEW YORK
Hoist Flag in Inflexible — Hudson-Fulton Celebrations at New
York — Processions — Banquets — West Point Academy —
Return — Retirement.
In August 1909, I got a telegram from the
Admiralty saying that both they, and the Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, hoped I would go out to New
York, with my flag flying in command of a
squadron, to join with other foreign ones in the
coming ' Hudson-Fulton ' celebrations there. This
function was not actually an official one of the
United States Government, but was instituted
by the State of New York to celebrate the ter-
centenary of Henry Hudson's discovery of the
river there, which is named after him ; and the
almost centenary (really 102 years) of Robert
Fulton's launching the first steamer on the Hudson
River.
Immense preparations were being made in
New York for this commemorative festival.
Foreign nations were invited to send representatives
and ships of war ; and our Government was
anxious both to have there a squadron worthy
401 2D
MY NAVAL CAREER
of our Navy, and an officer in command of it
higher in rank than any other one present.
I accepted the appointment, which, besides
its special and historical interests, combined my
hoisting my flag at sea as Admiral of the Fleet,
with the Union Jack at the main, which had not
occurred since H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence
(afterwards King WilUam IV) did so in 1814, to
receive the allied squadrons at Spithead, on the
occasion of Napoleon's going to Elba.
It will be understood therefore that as a naval
officer only the appointment had an intrinsic value
in itself. The immediate questions were my staff
and my flagship. For the former I got the
officers I wanted, viz. Captain Douglas Nicholson,
who was my Flag-lieutenant in the Channel
Fleet, Mr. Alton my Secretary, and Commanders
Powlett and Lowther Crofton, who all three had
been with me in China in 1900.
After some consideration the First Lord gave
me as my flagship the Inflexible, a new first-
class cruiser, one of our three newest and largest,
and really the most powerful class of cruiser afloat
anywhere — in fact the sort of ship worthy to fly
the flag of an Admiral of the Fleet. Captain H. H.
Torlesse, an able officer who commanded her, con-
tinued to do so.
Arrangements somewhat unusual had to be
made for the social and domestic requirements of
such a service, but these were easily got over. On
l6th September I hoisted my flag in the Inflexible
at Portsmouth, and left for New York.
Circumstances had made it most convenient
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HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATIONS
that part of our squadron, viz, the Drake (with the
flag of Rear- Admiral F. T. Hamilton), the Z)w^^
of Edinburgh and the Argyll should precede us at a
slower speed to the anchorage off Sandy Hook,
where we arrived early on the 24th.
That forenoon we weighed, and followed by our
squadron entered the Hudson River and moored off
General Grant's tomb. The United States Fleet, a
powerful collection of modern ships, under the
command of Rear-Admiral S. Schroeder, were
moored the highest up the river.
Next to them came our squadron, and below us
the remaining foreign ships in order according to
the seniority of their commanders. The German
squadron was commanded by Grand Admiral von
Koester, a former friend [of mine at Plymouth
in 1904 ; the French squadron by Admiral Le
Pord.
New York was en fete in the energetic way
worthy of the sea capital of the United States.
The population of that city including its suburbs
was said to be just over four millions, and I was
told that on some days during our stay two
million extra visitors were in the town. We lay
in the Hudson River for a fortnight, the days being
well filled up.
I will not attempt an account of all the feasts
and receptions ashore and afloat, but only mention
some of them. On, I may say, all occasions uniform
of different degrees was worn by all ofiicers.
On the 25th there was a full-dress reception by
Mr. Sherman, the Vice-President of the United
States, he representing Mr. Taft, the President, who
403 2 D 2
MY NAVAL CAREER
was unable to come : this was really the only
national, and therefore ' levee dress ' function.
That afternoon the river procession of vessels
took place to escort the two ' lions/ viz. the
duplicate of the Half Moon, and that of the
Clermont. The former had been built in Holland,
and Captain Colenbrander of the Dutch Navy
assured me she was an exact copy of the ship Hud-
son made his voyage in. She was 68 feet long, and
drew nine feet of water, she had three masts, her bow
was very low, and her poop very high, but narrow.
There was only three feet of height between her
decks. The Clermont was a copy of Fulton's ship,
a paddle-wheel vessel of course, but steaming very
slowly.
On the evening of the 27th there was a great
reception in the Metropolitan Opera House, we,
the delegates, being ranged along the front of the
stage like actors. The house holds some four
thousand people, and was about full.
We each read our official addresses in turn. It
was my first experience of addressing so large an
audience, but I was told that they could hear me
at the back part.
To give some idea of how any spare time was
spent in visits, I may mention that this day we
travelled fifty-five miles by river and land at
New York to pay visits.
On the 28th we had a great lunch at a round
table quite twenty feet across— things are mostly
big in the United States !
In the afternoon we witnessed the great
historical pageant, viz. a procession in the Fifth
404
HISTORICAL PAGEANTS
Avenue of people and of cars carrying figures and
models designed to show the phases and fashions
of life and the chief events in North America from
bygone times. It took about three hours to
pass by.
On the 29th we visited the West Point Military
Academy, which holds over 500 cadets. They
were reviewed for us, dressed in the picturesque
uniform of a hundred years ago. They were a
fine set of young men, and no expense is spared
to make the academy perfect.
That evening we dined at an official banquet in
the Hotel Astor. The dinner lasted six hours ;
from 7.30 to 1.30 we were at table. Two thousand
two hundred guests sat down, all men, at round
tables each holding about eight to ten persons.
The galleries round were filled with ladies. When
one had to speak one was led up to a special pulpit
or rostrum, which was required in so large a place.
On the 30th there was another great procession
in the Fifth Avenue, when about 25,000 men of
various nations passed, both civil, naval, and
military.
The foreign ships present were invited to land
contingents of their crews with their arms, and
of course did so. There were of course more
Americans by far than any other nation, and the
procession lasted about three hours.
On 5th September the St. George's, and other
British societies— English, Scotch and Welsh (not
Irish) — gave us a great dinner of about 500 people
at the Waldorf Astoria. Much friendliness was
expressed.
405
MY NAVAL CAREER
On the 6th we lunched with Mr. Pierpont
Morgan, who showed us his won(Jerful hbrary and
collection of n^ianuscripts.
On the 7th we were entertained at a great
dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel by the
German comnaunity of New York, at which Grand
Admiral von Koester was, of course, the principal
guest. Much good feeling and cordiality prevailed.
On the 8th I had a trip out on an express train
electric engine ; and back on a steam one, doing
the mile in forty- three seconds 1 The journey to
Chicago of 960 miles is done in 18 hours, at 53 miles
an hour. The American mode of fixing the rails
on the sleepers never to me looks as good as our
' chairs,' but it seems to answer : the rails are
heavy loo-lb. ones. Their engines are larger
than ours ; the biggest with its tender loaded weighs
close on 200 tons.
On 9th October we left for England, having had
what is called a ' strenuous,' but very interesting,
time at New York.
Such national representative congregations
must, if the participants are sensible men, conduce
to friendliness between their countries : and no
people are better hosts than our American cousins.
Among my many kind entertainers whom I
should like to name, I must mention one, viz. Mr.
R. A. C. Smith of 100 Broadway, New York, who
had special charge of myself and my staff, and
whose kindness and attention left us nothing to
wish for.
On our passages both out and home we en-
countered just enough bad weather to form some
406
PLACED ON THE RETIRED LIST
judgment of the ship's performance in a sea way.
As a splendid modern ' sea-girt citadel ' no cruisers
surpass her, but owing to her great steadiness,
which is, of course, valuable as a gun platform, the
sea soon sweeps over her upper deck.
On 19th October we arrived at Portsmouth,
and I obeyed my last order from the Admiralty,
which according to the old formula is to ' strike
your flag, and come on shore ' — and while doing
so I felt a pride, I think pardonable in a naval
officer, of having served at sea as an Admiral of
the Fleet.
On 30th April 1910 I became seventy years of
age, and so, in compliance with the very excellent
rule of the Navy, I was placed on the retired list.
Human nature is often weak, and so we may
even regret what we have both expected to occur,
and believe to be proper. Retirement from a
career is professional euthanasia; yet — especially
if Dame Fortune has kindly wafted us successfully
over the billows of our active existence to the
haven of retreat — I think the pilgrim of life should
then comfort himself by taking the same view of
his present condition, as did the great Francis
Bacon of the canticle ' Nu7ic Dimittis*
407
CHAPTER XXXIX
ENVOI
China and Japan — Importance of our Navy — Steamships —
Armourclads — Turret Ships — Navy in 1844 — Naval Changes —
Knowledge required — Engineers — Modern Personnel — ^Marines
— ^Navy's Duties — Coastguard — Size of Ships — Conclusion.
I WISH to add to my personal memoirs a few
remarks on China, a part of the world of much
interest to me, and also to the profession in
which my life has been mostly passed. As
regards the first the Far Eastern question is quite
unlike any other in the world, especially since the
late wonderful rise of Japan to be a first-class power.
I Japan seems to be in the happy condition
\ that nothing but a combination of nations can
I harm her, and at least for the present I see no
I prospect of any such alliance against her, if only
I because very great mistrust of each other is now
prevalent in the happy family of Europe.
The position of Japan merely geographically
speaking as regards Asia is like ours towards
Europe, and possibly a parallel may be drawn
between our once actual possession of (and for
long our advanced claim to) certain provinces in
Europe, and Japan's occupation of Corea, but
408
THE FAR EASTERN QUESTION
all through such similes runs the one pregnant
fact that whereas we were always in presence
of other warlike nations, Japan's only real neigh-
bour is the unmilitary empire of China. Thus
the position of Japan is really a very enviable one.
As regards China, no greater evidence of her
ultra-conservative immutability seems required
than the fact that in spite of all her lessons of
humiliation by encroaching enemies, and still
more by the military triumphs of her once despised
neighbour Japan, she yet hesitates to provide
herself with the only real protection for a nation,
in spite of Hague Conferences, and arbitration
treaties, viz. a powerful army, and a sufficient
navy according to her needs.
That China is slowly awakening I believe, and
understand that she has now over one hundred
thousand troops by way of being properly
trained and armed, also I fully expect to see this
number rapidly increasing, but several years
must elapse before she can defy either of her
eastern rivals to encroach on her dominions.
As I observed on p. 342, it is China really
who has been wronged by the forced intrusion
of alien nations, among whom England's share is
by no means the smallest. The more one reads
and knows about China, the more one sees and
understands why the Chinese both call and re-
gard us all as ' foreign devils ' ; which I do not
wonder at, China herself being the least aggres-
sive nation that I know of.
That a powerful China would be a danger or
a menace to the western world I do not believe.
409
MY NAVAL CAREER
She would be a rival to Japan, and might thus help
by the balance of power in the Far East to promote
peace in those regions.
Her feeling towards Japan is, at least now, not
one of special affection, and the ' yellow peril ' is
I believe a bogey yet very far distant.
John Chinaman is a born trader, and on the
whole a honest one : he likes a good bargain of
course — who does not? — but when the deal is
arranged, he will keep to it.
I do not say it is beyond the power, or the
mistaken diplomacy, of one or more of the western
nations to cause the people of both the Middle
Kingdom and of the country of the Rising Sun
to combine against them, but I think it is quite
uncalled for, and I am sure it is very undesirable.
When the principal years of one's life have been
spent in a profession, it follows that one has both
well considered that calling, and formed what are
matur ed opinions about it. The above is my case,
and I therefore wish to offer to my readers the
following few remarks.
The vital importance of our Navy to England
is in no way exaggerated by the well-known
of&cial preface to the Naval Articles of War,
declaring it to be that on which, * under the good
Providence of God, the wealth, safety and strength
of the kingdom chiefly depend.'
This, which could, perhaps, only be an actual
truism of an island nation, became enhanced by
our acquisition of possessions across the seas, and
was completed by the increase of our population,
necessitating a foreign food supply.
410
STEAMSHIPS VERSUS SAILING-SHIPS
^
It is not, I think, unreasonable to say that to us,
insular as we are, a strong Navy is but a defensive
weapon, and may be claimed as such ; whereas
when one is earnestly worked for, and achieved, by
a Continental Power, the intention of aggression
seems to underlie the design.
I think history shows that the increase and
reduction of our Navy have synchronised with
those of the chief Continental maritime powers ;
in the former case following rather than preceding
them.
The propulsion of ships of war by steam was a |
comparative drawback to our Navy, because during i
the last century there is not a doubt that, on the|
whole, we had more skilful seamen than othe^f
nations possessed.
And though ' seamanship ' of all kinds must
be an art to be acquired by careful observation
and long experience, yet the handling of a
steamer can never need the practised eye and
skilful, almost sympathetic, direction of the true
sailor, who has been trained in ships under canvas
only.
As in many other things, our neighbours the
French were the pioneers of ironclad ships. It \
is true that floating batteries had existed before,
and been used on various occasions ; but La Gloire,
launched in i860, was, I consider, the first real
armoured ship afloat.
In the early years of ' ironclads ' then so called,
the French were more addicted to ships of the
same type than we were. Our idea seemed more
to devise various sorts of protected ships, as
411
MY NAVAL CAREER
experiments, thereby showing we were still quite
uncertain which was the best type.
For example, in the Mediterranean Fleet for
some years in the 'eighties, we had not two ironclad
ships out there of a similar class. Sails died
hard; perhaps turrets may be said to have had
the immediate hand in their abolition.
The ill-fated Captain was the first ship actually
built to carry out the designs of the clever and
enthusiastic Cooper Coles, and to conform likewise
to the then desire to have a turret ship that could
sail also ; and this object, up to her most tragic
loss in 1870, her designer believed to be more or
less accomplished.
It was soon very evident that the heavily
armoured ships, however rigged, could not sail as
ships had formerly done ; and this became more
evident not only as the armour increased in weight,
but after the introduction of twin screws.
Indeed, as concerns these last, the Alexandra,
completed in 1877, had two sets of small engines,
on purpose to turn her twin screws as required,
when she was under sail and her main engines were
disconnected from her propellers. The Devasta-
tion, designed in 1869, was our first mastless sea-
going ship.
Twin screws once introduced were continued,
and their necessity not only for handiness, but
for safety in unrigged ships, insured their general
adoption.
The broadside armed ironclad slid gradually
into the central box citadel ; till the desire to
mount heavier guns, and because they must be
412
PERSONNEL OF THE NAVY
fewer in number to gain for them a larger arc of
fire, was probably what caused the invention of
the turret system, which is the undoubted
parent of what now prevails in all ' capital ships,'
or powerful cruisers, whether as barbette or
turret.
It is perhaps curious to reflect how the ancient
ram was revived in our days, but is now fast
disappearing after a career in which it may
almost be said only to have sunk its friends ;
and with its abolition, we are again placing less
comparative value on fore and aft fire.
The Whitehead torpedo-tubes have except in
very small ships disappeared below the water line,
but there as submerged ones they continue to be
valued.
As regards the personnel of the Navy, it may be
interesting to note that in 1844, though the list
of flag-officers was numerically large, out of 211
(active and retired) admirals on the list only
twenty-five rear-admirals were under sixty-five
years of age, and only fifteen under sixty. Also
that at that date we had only one line-of-battle
ship in the Mediterranean, and it was with some
difficulty, and after consulting the French Foreign
Office, that the Admiralty obtained Lord
Aberdeen's sanction that the flagship of the
Commander-in-Chief on the above station should
be a three- instead of a two-decked ship.
I think it is no matter of fancy to say that a
naval officer is supposed to know more than it is
possible for him to know. He must be first a
seaman and a navigator, then very much of an
413
MY NAVAL CAREER
artillerist and an infantry soldier, to which he
should add a knowledge of naval construction,
electricity as applied to all ship's uses, and the tele-
graph ; of torpedoes, both motive and stationary ;
of all forms of signalling ; of international law
and of foreign tongues, at least French, being that
of diplomacy : to these add, an engineer's
proficiency.
To make a humorous comparison let me
remind my readers of ' Rasselas/ by Dr. Johnson,
and how, when Imlac was extolling the knowledge
required to be a real poet, the Prince replied to
him : * Thou hast convinced me that no human
being can ever be a poet.' One might say so of a
naval officer, if a really complete knowledge of all
branches of his profession was necessary.
To say that the personnel of the Navy has
altered as much as the materiel since I entered
the service would, of course, be untrue, because,
as regards the latter, one may assert that the
change from the war galleys of Mark Antony at
Actium to the sailing line-of-battle ships in the
Black Sea in 1854, was not greater than from the
latter to a Dreadnought or a submarine boat.
As regards the mere numbers of officers on the
Navy List ; since the age-retirement scheme did not
exist in 1852, the lists of officers on the active
list then and now cannot well be compared,
but we may compare the number of men. In
1852 the Navy vote taken was for 34,029 seamen
and marines against 115,691 now, and the Navy
estimates then were £5,494,888 against £44,392,500
now.
414
SPECIALISTS IN THE NAVY
The age-retirement scheme of Mr. Childers I
have mentioned previously, and given my humble
judgment in its favour. Besides it, the chief
change yet completely carried out, and affecting
executive officers, is the abolition of the special
navigating branch of the Navy.
This when proposed was, I may say, mostly
objected to by the older officers of the service ;
but is now I am sure very generally approved.
The other great change, and still in progress, is the
abolition of the engineer branch of our profession.
I have so great an opinion of the soundness and
vitality of the Navy that I believe it would
survive nearly everything except its actual extinc-
tion, but as regards the above change at present in
progress I think as follows.
The very varied knowledge now required of a
naval of&cer makes the present time one essen-
tially for specialists, and certainly as engineeis for
that branch of the service — the multiplication
and various sorts of machinery rendering this far
more necessary than it was formerly.
It may naturally be remarked that in the
pre-steam days all executive officers were supposed
to be experts in whatever concerned the locomotion
of their ship, and that they should if possible
be so now. The first part would be true, and the
second part desirable, but except for partial
efficiency as an engineer it cannot, I think, be
achieved.
The naval engineers have served us right well,
as a special class ; the time may have arrived for
their extinction as such, but if so their place and
415
MY NAVAL CAREER
prospects for the future should, I believe, be the
following.
1. The selection and higher training of volun-
teers from the executive branch, who, without being
thoroughly trained practical engineers, would yet
be able to occupy the higher positions as such,
both afloat and in our dockyards.
2. Besides the above, to have thoroughly
practical engineers, entered probably as is now
done with boy artificers, and occupying virtually
much the same position as was occupied by naval
engineers when steamships were begun in our
service.
Of course those officers diverted to the first
of the above categories must give up all idea of
commanding ships, or fleets ; and their separation
from such ambitions should take place, at the
latest, when they become commanders, better still
as lieutenants. As regards the entry of naval
cadets, the present regulations seem to me very
good. I am sure that sailors should be ' caught '
young ; the sea is a profession to be as far as is
possible bred to, or its discomforts, and still more
the confinement of life on board ship, are very
distasteful.
For these reasons the actual embarkation as
young boys had its advantages, but the high
standard of education now necessary makes their
remaining for a few years at naval schools,
which Osborne and Dartmouth actually are,
indispensable.
It is a delicate matter to say much about the
comparative efficiency of officers and men now
416
SEAMEN— MARINES
and when I went to sea, so my remarks about this
shall be few. Both officers and men are, of course,
as befits present tunes far more generally educated,
and I might add intelligent, than formerly.
As regards the officers I consider them more
universally zealous — and in spite of what Talley-
rand said to a diplomatist about zeal, a navy
is nothing without it.
Comparisons are usually hazardous, often
objectionable, yet I am going to make one between
our two defensive services ; it is this : In the Navy
the officers are as a rule poorer men than in the
Army, and enter their profession more with the
intention of making it their home and life-career
than soldiers do ; and therefore I believe throw
their hearts more universally into their work.
As regards the men, I doubt their physique
being on the average as fine as it was formerly, but
probably this can neither be proved nor dis-
proved. If the former I do not lay it down to the
loss of the work aloft, because I feel sure that the
regular calisthenic exercises now practised on
board our ships are far superior for the develop-
ment of muscle. Our men are certainly far more
sober, and better behaved when on leave ; and
we have no difficulty in recruiting for the service,
I cannot end my few remarks without alluding
to that splendid corps, the Royal Marines, both
Artillery and Light Infantry. Their history since
the end of the seventeenth century may be said
to be part of the history of the Navy, and their
general loyalty to the officers has been, at certain
times of trouble, equally creditable and efficient.
MY NAVAL CAREER
The Royal Marine Artillery emanated early last
century from the request for a body of the Royal
Artillery being lent to certain ships to teach the
seamen gunnery. Till long after those days no
naval gunnery school existed ; but the seamen
certainly require now no outside assistance in that
respect.
There are naval officers who are in favour of
doing away with the marines, at least as embarked
in ships, and I believe the United States Navy is
the only large one besides our own in which
marines now go afloat. I am not of the above
opinion, but I should gradually let one part of the
corps die out, and keep the other at least as
numerous as both were a short time ago, all being
under one denomination. It matters, I think, little
if they are called artillery or light infantry, but I
should favour the latter with extra pay for gunnery
qualifications that might advance to the actual
pay of the present Marine Artillery.
The reduction of the Marine Corps in numbers
is, I think, a mistake. Their proportion to that of
the seamen voted, when I entered the service, was
then very much larger than it is now. I would not
propose to restore that proportion, but I should
keep the total numbers at what they were a few
years ago, before their reduction commenced.
The immediate duties of the Navy now are
very different from what they were at the begin-
ning of this century even, but the reasons hardly
require explanation.
When I entered the Navy certainly not more
than one-third of our service afloat was in home
418
COASTGUARD— NOMENCLATURE OF SHIPS
waters, the rest being on foreign stations ; now this
is more than reversed, probably three-quarters of
our force being in or near England.
In Chapter XXVI I have referred to the Coast-
guard, and I am entirely against their reduction in
numbers. Besides their present important duties
which Tariff Reform (if passed) would greatly
augment as regards contraband goods, they are
a very good recruiting body, and help to popu-
larise the Navy, both as being visible to the shore
population, and as a position to be looked forward
to in the last years of their service by the men
themselves : and they are a most trustworthy
reserve.
Another and most important subject is that of
the classes and sizes of our ships. Dreadnoughts,
so called, are at the moment the most powerful
type of fighting ship ; yet many will agree with me
that their origin was for us an evil, though had
others begun them, we ought, of course, to have
followed suit.
The nomenclature of classes of ships has
entirely changed. I obj ect to the term ' battleship '
as being not distinctive ; all ships meant to fight
are battleships. I would restore the old term
' line-of-battle ship,' or 'ships of the Hne,' or
perhaps say ' capital ship.'
For the rest all real ships are called cruisers of
classes. I may also remark that the exact fine of
demarcation between a ' battleship ' (so caUed)
and a first-class cruiser is very hard to draw. The
above remarks apply to ' class.'
As regards size, I think as follows. For
419 2E«
MY NAVAL CAREER
merchant ships no general rule can or need exist.
The transatlantic liners that ply chiefly between
Europe and the United States — probably to New
York — may be of any size, so long as they can
enter and leave the two required ports ; but for
men-of-war the question is a far more involved
one. When out at sea I will concede that, other
things being equal, the larger ship compared with
the smaller one may, and should be, the more
powerful of the two ; but that by no means, in
my opinion, exhausts the question.
The objections to the constant increase of the
size of men-of-war seem to me to be —
1. In view of torpedoes and submarine mines,
it puts too many eggs into one basket, and the
great increase of the range and accuracy of White-
head torpedoes makes their danger greater.
2. The docks able to take the largest ships in
are few, especially if from injury the ship is drawing
an extra draft of water.
3. You cannot tell what harbours you may
require the ship to enter, and here, both as to
depth of water and turning space, difficulty
comes in.
4. Mishaps through grounding may occur,
and certainly the larger the ship the more difficult
she will be to salve.
The above are my principal arguments against
the constant increase in the size of our men-of-war.
I presume I need hardly say that I should have a
greater number of the smaller class of ship, each
carrying guns, fewer but of the same type, as those
carried by their larger sisters.
420
OUR NATURAL ADVANTAGES IN A NAVAL WAR
Finally, I will again refer to the Navy vote
and estimates quoted on p. 412, by which it will
be seen that as regards the numbers of seamen and
marines voted, there are now exactly 3*4 times
as many as when I entered the service, or say
nearly three and a half times the former numbers.
And that as regards the cost of our Navy, our
estimates are now eight times what they were
about sixty years ago.
Could [anyone then have foretold the above
stupendous increases ? and what may we expect
in the future ? Nobody knows— but this I think : /
' Beggar my neighbour ' is a very nice game of I
cards for children, but when played (with ships) \
between first-class Powers, it is certainly costly, (
probably very risky ! Games usually end by one
side winning, occasionally by their being drawn ;
which last may have its advantages, even with
nations !
Certainly our insular and geographical position
is admirable for a naval war. On one side we
have the open ocean, and an extent of coast line
that, in the face of our Navy, the fleets of the whole
world could not successfully blockade ; on the
other side we are placed so near to foreign ports,
that the sea-borne commerce to and from such
harbours must in war time run the greatest risk
of capture by us.
Nature has thus assisted us so far that only
ingratitude and downright stupidity could pre-
vent our availing ourselves to the utmost of her
gifts : that is to command the sea for our own
benefit, and to the destruction of our enemy's
421
MY NAVAL CAREER
sea-borne commerce. In our past history we
have done so, and the result has justified the
efforts.
History should inspire as well as teach, and if
so we do not lack for inspiration, but I trust we
shall long be able to quote what was written and
true three hundred years ago, and is true now,
viz. —
' Surely at this day with us of Europe the
vantage of strength at sea (which is one of the
principal dowries of this Kingdom of Great
Britain) is great'
422
INDEX
Abbe Thule, 103, 105
Abergavenny, 285
Acapulco, 287
ActcBon, 59
Active, 284
Admiral Apraxin, 392
Agamemnon, 11, 25
Agninaldo, 321
Aitkin, 137
Aiax, 3
Alacrity, 320, 369
Alcester, Lord. 228
Alexander I, the Emperor, 267
Alexander II, the Emperor, 262
Alexander, 228
Alexandra, 205, 316, 412
Alexeiff, Vice- Admiral, 356
Algerine, 87, 348
Allen, 117
Alton, F. C, secretary, 345, 402
Amadeus, King, 170
Amazon, 168, 169
Amethyst, 217
Amherst, 62
Anson, 273, 274, 279, 296, 297,
308
Antelope, 103
Anion, Senor Emilio, 305
Aoki, Major, 360
Arabi Pacha, 222, 223
Aragonez, 119
Arethusa, 13, 19
Argyll, 403
Armour, Mr., 276
Arnim, von, 16 \
Arrow, 53
Arthur, 87
Arthur of Connaught, H.R.H.
Prince, 388, 390, 399
Asia, 53
Assheton Smith, 117
Atalanta, 204
Atalante, 94
Audacieuse, 62
Aurora, 357
Avenger, 216
Bacchante, 205, 220
Ball, 25
Ball, Sir Alexander, 228
Barfleur, 357
Bartolome, Lieutenant de,
305
Bate, 59
Batoum, 206
Bayly, Captain E. H., 357
Beaconsfield, Lord, 190
Beatty, Commander David,
360
Beaumont, Admiral Sir Lewis,
386
Belle Poule, 169
Benbow, n
Bendemann, Vice-Admiral, 362
Beresford, Lord Charles, 325
Bernhardt, Madame Sarah, 288
Bertie, Col. the Hon. Reginald,
355
423
INDEX
Be5rts, Herbert W. H., Captain
R.M.A., 352
Biddulph, 43
Biddulph, Sir Robert, 237
Bigham, Captain Clive, 345,
353
Birkenhead, 175
Black Prince, 245
Blackwood, 169
Blake, Sir Henry, 326, 375
Blake, Lady, 326
Blakiston, 95
Bonaventure, 329
Borel, 164
Bower, Colonel Hamilton, 358
Bowring, 54
Boyd, Captain McNiel, 230
Boyes, Rear-Admiral, 299, 305
Brampton, 200
Bridge, Admiral Sir Cyprian,
291, 375
Britannia, 12, 17
Brooke, Rajah, 338
Brown, Sir George, 19
Brown, Ralph, 104
Bruce, Major, 358
Bruce, Mr., 81
Bruce, Rear-Admiral James,
361
Bruey, Admiral, 238
Buller, Admiral, 321
Burgevine, 109, 113
Burke, Captain J. H. T., 357
Burton, Sir Richard, 215
Burton, Lady, 215
Calcutta, 51, 52, 53, 58, 67, 69,
78, 89
Callaghan, Captain G, A., 365
Campbell, Lord Clyde, 37
Campbell, Mr. C. W., 345
Canrobert, 22^ 37
Captain, 412
Caradoc, 39
Carill-Worsley, C. N. T.. Flag-
lieutenant, 384
Carles, Mr. W. R., Consul, 359
Carranza, Captain-General Jose
de, 305
Centaur, 92
Centurion, 352, 354, 371, 375,
377
Chang-Chi-Tung, Viceroy, 325,
369. 374
Charrington, Lieutenant, 223
Chesapeake, 82, %^, 86, 91, 92,
95. 187
Childers, Mr., 10, 117, 172, 415
Christina, H.M. Queen, 378
Chulalonkorn, H.M. King, 336
Circassia, 25
Clanmorris, Lord, 184
Clarence, H.R.H. Duke of, 402
Clarke, 79
Clermont, 404
Colenbrander, Captain, 404
CoUingwood, Lord, 218
Connaught, H.R.H. Duke of,
184. 378. 379, 381
Conrad, Admiral, 222, 242,
260
Constance, 102
Constantine, 265
Conway, 315
Cooper Coles, 412
Cormorant, 64
Coromandel, 54, 55, 59, 66, 92
Courejolles, Rear-A(hniral, 362
Cowper, Mr., 61
Cowper, 90, 92, 95
Creagh, General O'Moore, V.C,
364
Cross, Colonel, 179
Cruizer, 46, 47, 48, 92
Culme-Seymour, 56, 242
Dacres, 25
Dalhanty, 87
Davey, 104
De la Fosse, 193
Descartes, 13
Devastation, 412
L>ew, 3, 90
Dewey, Admiral, 327, 388
Diadem, 390
Dido, King, 151
Digby, Captain, 248
Discovery, 174
424
INDEX
Dorward, Brigadier-General A,
R. F.. 355
Douglas, 126
Douglas, Harold, 292
Dowell, 161, 170
Drake, 403
Dreadnought, 419
Dryad, 6
Dubasoff, Admiral, 330
Duke of Edinburgh, 403
Duke of Wellington, 9, 249, 252
Dundas, 17, 34
Eastman, 2
Edison, Mr., 277
Edlind, Captain, 299
Edward VII, H.M. King, 381
Egger, Mr., 292
Elgin, 57, 59, 62, 66, 86, 90
ElUot, 55
Empress of India, 308, 312, 313
Empress of Japan, 395
Encounter, 2, 3, 5, 7, 82, 90
Endymion, 365
Enterprise, 137
Erebus, 136, 137
Etruria, 274, 278
Euryalus, 169
Eurydice, 90, 187, 188, 189,
204. 205
Evans, de Lacy, 166
Excellent, 77, 250
Fair, G. M. K., Lieutenant, 345
Fairfax, Vice- Admiral, 297, 314
Falcon, 215
Fanshawe, Sir Arthur, 250
Farquharson, Mr. W., 285
Fellowes, 47
Ferret, 285
Firebrand, 16
Fire Queen, 117
Fisher, Captain, 225
Fitton, Lieutenant, 285
Fitzroy, Admiral, 296, 315
Fix, 193
Flora, 163
Forester, 48
Franklin, Sir John, 136, 137, 138
Frederick, T.I.H. Emperor and
Empress, 252
Frederick William, 141
Frere, Sir Bartle, 185
Froude, Professor, 204
Fukusima, General, 355, 360
Fulton, Robert, 401
Furious, 12, 13, 15, 16, 34, 62
Fury, 15, 65
Garibaldi, 122, 123
Gaunt, Lieutenant Ernest, 323
George, H.R.H. Prince, 220
Giffard, 14
Gifiord, Lord, 192
Gilford, 55. 95
Gill, Captain, 223
Gladstone, Mr., 210
Glory, 371, 375
Goodenough, S5> 5^, 58, 67, 89,
90
Gordon, 94, 114
Goschen, 173
Gough, 59
Grand Duke of Vladimir, 264
Grant, Sir Hope, 86
Gray, 127, 139
Great Britain, 179
Green, Lieutenant J., 366
Grey, Sir Edward, 381
Grey, Earl and Countess, 399
Gros, Baron, 66, 90
Growler, 145, 147, 148
Guerrero, 105
Half Moon, 404
Hall, Captain G. D. King, 322
Hall, Captain W. King, 55, 67
Hamilton, 48, 57
Hamilton, Rear- Admiral F. T.,
403
Hare, 90, 187
Harford, 153, 268, 269
Haughty, 48, 57
Hawk, 316
Hay, Drummond, 170
Hay, Lord John, 190, 191, 228,
229, 240
425
INDEX
Hearty, 256
Hely Hutchinson, the Hon. Sir
Walter and Lady, 283
Henri Quatre, 33
Henry, H.T.H. Prince of Prus-
sia, 323. 334, 336 4
Herbert, 2
Hermione, 324
Hertha, 352
Highflyer, 57
Hobson, 137
Hong-Kong. 55, 56
Hope, Sir James, 81, 82, 85,
96, 108, 113
Hornby, Admiral, 166, 191, 245
Hornet, 283
Howe, I,ord, 57
Howe, 297, 298, 299, 302, 303,
304. 307. 330
Huddleston, 199
Hudson, Henry, 401
Hunt, Walter, 189
Illustrious, 77
Imperieuse, 81, 82, 84, 86, 95,
108
Impregnable, 386
Inflexible, 224, 225, 226, 227,
235. 239, 240. 244, 251, 252,
402
Inverclyde, Lord, 278
Invincible, 221
Iris, 204, 214, 224, 227
Ja-Ja. 152, 153
Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 52
Jasper, 267
Jellicoe, Captain, 343. 345, 349
Johnson, 107
Johnstone, Major J. R., 346,
352
Johore, Maharajah or, 182
Joinville, Prince de, 170
Jones, 31, 82
Kelly-Kenny, General Sir
Thomas, 399
Kelvin, 76
Kempff, Rear-Admiral, 362
Kennedy, 6, 57
Keppel, 50, 54, 55, 56, 381
Kerr, Lord Walter, 386
Key, Cooper, 60, 173
Keyes, Roger, Lieutenant, 343
Keyser, Mr., 339
King Edward VI T, 385
Kingsley, 283
Kirby, 161
Koester, Admiral von, 385, 403,
406
Kuper. 113
La Gaillissoniere, 222
La Gloire, 239, 411
Laird & Co., 179
Lambton, Captain the Hon.
Hed worth, 358
Laughton, 67
Layrle, Captain, 217
Le Boo, 103
Lesseps, de, 176, 222, 287
Leven, 87
Liardet, 186
Llu-Kum-Yi, Viceroy, 325,
363> 374
Lively, 165, 168
Livingstone, 150. 155
Loango, 156, T58
Lobiniere, Sir Henry Joly de,
397
Lomen, Captain, 223
London, 206
Lowther Crofton, Lieutenant
E. G., 354, 402
Lyons, Sir Edmund, 10, 19,
25» 34. 35. 36
Lyons, Captain, 36
Lytton, Lord, 176, 177
Macartney, 62
Macaulay, 78, 190
Macdonald, Sir Claude, 321,
342, 343
Macdonald, Lady, 393
Magellan, 107
Mahan, 122, 321, 388
426
INDEX
Manoel Vacca, 155, 156, 160
Manto, Admiral, 270
Maori, 293
Mar aval, 191
Marco Polo, 97
Marengo, 217
Markham, Albert, 180
Marlborough. 57, 253, 254
MaroUes, Capitaine, 353
Marryat, 78
Martin, 137
Maxim, Sir Hiram, 250
Mazinthien, 127
McCalla, Captain, 356
McCleverty, Captain, 9, 53,
310
Mends, 13, 19, 49, 175
Mersey, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82
Meyer, 174
Milne, Sir David, 10
Milne, Sir Alexander, 174
Miranda, 36
Mogador, 13
Monarch, 215, 221
Mongolia, 390
Monticucolli, Admiral Count,
374
Montmorency, de, 186
Moore, Sir John, 297
Morgan, Mr. Pierpont, 406
Morier, Sir Robert, 261
Movica, 160, 162
Mpinge Nebacca, 156-157
NaCHIMOFF, II, 268
Nancy, 284, 285
Nankin, 72, 73
Napier, General Sir Charles,
211, 212
Napoleon, 74, 118, 135, 263,
402
Nares, 174, 180
Nelson, Lord, 116, 117, 122,
168, 169, 254, 388
Neville, 121
Nicholas I, the Emperor, 223,
263
Nicholas I, 392
Nicholas, Prince, 209
Nicholson, Lieutenant Douglas,
305, 402
Nicolson, Sir Frederick, 70
Nieh, General, 344, 348, 352
Nordenfelt, 252
Noma, 102, 104, 107
Oko Jumbo, 153
Oleviera, 156, 160
Olympic, 243
Orde, 169
Oregon, 242, 243, 244, 245, 247
Orient, 228
Orinoco, 282
Orlando, 357, 359
Orontes, 174, 175, 181, 197
Osborne, E. O. B. S., midship-
man, 345
Paley, 132
Palmer, Professor, 223
Parker, 169
Parkes, 53, 60
Pearl, 58
Peel, 57, 58
Pehssier, 35. 37, 39
Peppel, 152, 153
Pigmy, 366
Pioneer, 102, 103
Pique, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75,
78, 161, 186, 375
Pitt, the Hon. James, 283
Polyphemus, 246
Popoffka, 271
Pord, Admiral Le, 403
Poulett, 120
Powlett, Armand, 31, 35, 284
Powlett, F. A., Flag-heu-
tenant, 345, 402
Prince, 33, 384
Prince Consort, the, 108
Prince of Wales, 123, 177
Prince and Princess of Wales,
T.R.H.. 385
Princess Charlotte, 10 1
Protet, no
427
INDEX
Queen, 43
Raglan, 35, 39
Raleigh, 50. 54, 55, 58
Rattlesnake, 161
Reade, Consul General, 216
Redesdale, 391, 394
Raid, Major-General Alexander,
373
Retribution, 13
Rice, Mr. J., 302
Richelieu, Admiral de, 336
Roberts, 94
Robinson, 125
Rodney, 297
Rolland, 55
Roman, 163
Ross, Sir James, 136
Roustem Pasha, 218
Royal Sovereign, 297, 308
Sakaa, 221
Salvador, the Archduke Lewis,
309
Sampson, 13, 24, 30, 82
Sandpiper, 340
Sans Pareil, 25, 290
Sarel, 95
Schroeder, Rear- Admiral S., 403
Scoresby, 129
Scott, Lord Charles, 220, 383,
386
Scott, Captain Percy, 358
Scout, 143
Seahorse, 303
Selborne, Earl of, 376, 377
Semphill, Lieutenant the Hon.
Arthur Forbes, 340
Serapis, 177
Serpent, 305, 306
Seymour, Sir Michael (died
1887), 46. 52, 54. 67, 115
Seymour, Sir Michael (died
1834). 49, 57- 217
Sejmaour, Sir Beauchamp (Lord
Alcester), 205, 208, 221, 224
Se5miour, Richard (Lieutenant),
168
428
Shaguin, Captain, 356
Shannon, 57
Shaw, 181, 182
Sherinsky, Colonel, 353
Sherman, General, 390
Sherman, Vice-President, 403
Sherwin, 96, 98
Sir Charles Forbes, 55, 95
Slaney, 64
Sleeman, Lieutenant, 207
Smith, Lady, 123
Smith, General Sir Harry, 123
Smith Dorrien, Captain A., 328
Smith, Mr. R. A. C, 406
Sparrow, 284
Spartiate, 49
Spencer Smith, Captain Sey-
mour, 285
Sphinx, 102, 103, 108
Sprightly, 117
Staunch, 48
Staveley, 112
Stephens, 141
Stephenson, 174
Stewart, Commander R. H.,
348
Stirling, Captain F., 204
Stossel, General, 355
St. Amaud, 22
St. Vincent, Lord, 253, 254
Sundius, Mr., 364
Swiftsure, 295
Sybille, ^5
Sjrmonds, 69
Taft, President, 403
Timiraire, 233
Terrible, 8, 9, 13, 23, 24, 89,
284, 310, 357
Terror, 136, 137
Thackeray, 11
Thitis, 49, 217
Thunderer, 196
Tiger, 13. 14, 15, 16, 271
Todleben, 23, 36, 123, 265, 268
Togo, Admiral, 321, 392, 393
Tolstoy, 17, 269
Torlesse, Captain H. H,, 402
Tracey, Admiral, 273, 279
INDEX
Trent, io8
Tribune, 24
Tryon, George, 209
Twelve Apostles, 272
Tyne, no
UsEDOM, Captain von, 349
Valorous, 34, 36
Van Straubenzie, 59
Vauban, 13
Vesuvius, 16
Victoria, 291, 308
Victoria and Albert, 9, 123, 378
Victorian, 400
Victory, 117, 122, 240, 249, 250
Vigilant, 165
Ville de Paris, 254
Vladimir, 34
Wagstaffe, Mr., 267
Walcot, 119
Waldersee,
Count, 365
Ward, 108
Warrior, 245
Washington, 310
Washington Irving, 105
Waterman, 95, 100, loi
Field-Marshal
Watson, Lieutenant Hugh, 334
Webb, Captain, 277
Wellington, Duke of, 379
Wemyss, Lieutenant Rosslyn,
312
Westphal, 121
Wheaton, 310
Whitehead, 232
Willes, Sir George, 248, 252
Wilson, Sir Arthur, ^^, 319
Windham, Commander Charles,
302
Windtz, Mr. de, 333
Wolfe, General, 400
Wolseley, Sir Garnet, 190, 191,
192, 224
Wood, 133
Wood, Major W., 399
Woodcock, 334
Worcester, 315, 393
Wright, Lieutenant P. N., 359
Xavier, 62
Yeh, 53, 60, 61
Yuan-shi-kai, Viceroy, 358
Zabiaka, 223
Zarngozanna, 119
Zatzarenny, 207
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